quarter hell
Title: Quarter Hell
Rated: T for Teenz
Autor's note: I entertained head gamemaker as a career path and this is what happened. Essentially written for casterlys in the THG ficathon - prompt was an AU where Katniss didn't go back into the Arena and was a mentor instead.
Summary: It's a coincidence it rhymes with hell.
Once every twenty-five years, the rules are bent to the whims of the presiding Head Gamemaker and the president in office at the time.
Nothing is too out of the ordinary and everything is fair game.
This is the way it’s been since the Capitol gained control. To show the Districts that they are the merciful ones allowing the Hunger Games to be as tame as they are. Because they have the power to do as they please on any given whim, yet they limit themselves to this battle of survival once a year that’s only fair as penance.
It’s the least the Districts could do, after all, what with starting a rebellion and nearly destroying everything. This is their place and this is how they are kindly reminded.
These are the 75th Hunger Games - this is the Quarter Quell.
(it’s a coincidence it rhymes with hell)
Katniss looks over at Haymitch when he calls her name.
They’re a little more than three-fourths of the way through on their first bottle of whiskey, so she doesn’t really take stock in his beckoning.
She’s more interested in the glass right now, anyhow.
It’s straight out of District 1, still bright and shiny and pristine - the detailing is remarkable, much more extravagant than she ever imagines a cup being capable of.
It reminds her of herself - the etched diamond shapes are inlayed with what is probably gold, something reflective in the glass makes it sparkle almost unnaturally. Underneath it all, it serves the same purpose a plain cup does but to please others, it’s been polished, injected, bedazzled, and who knows what else.
She takes a swig that ends up emptying her glass. The amber liquid burns again as it goes down her throat, leaving a warmth that makes the foul stuff worth it.
He groans out her name again. “Hmm?” she hums.
Maybe the liquor’s getting to her but the sun coming through the blinds feels good and Katniss starts to think that coming to him isn’t such a bad idea after all. This is the first time they talk to each other since she knocks on his door and he lets her in and they station themselves at his dining room table.
Her and Haymitch understand each other better when they don’t talk -
I’m lost, by knocking on his door, it’s alright, by taking out an extra glass for her, thank you, by pouring him the first drink, and I’m here, by pushing the bottle over to her side.
It’s how things have been since the Arena - neither are very good with words - and it works for them.
So when he says “don’t start yet, sweetheart,” and Katniss answers with, “well, you are my mentor,” it comes out harsher than she intends. She takes the bottle and pours the last of the whiskey into his glass.
I’m sorry.
It’ll be okay, is what he says when he pushes his glass in her direction.
When the lid of the silver box is lifted, a spotlight illuminates its contents.
An abundance of tiny envelopes in the antique silver box are lined up neatly, boasting how infallible their reign is because even though this event only occurs once every twenty-five years, there will be plenty of opportunities.
Each of the envelopes lined inside are identical, save their respective year printed on them, closed with a seal of the Capitol in this blood red candle wax.
The room is broadcasted all over Panem when the envelope with the 75 on it is chosen. The air is thick as the seal is broken. It’s almost as if you can hear everyone across the Districts holding their breath to see how this year’s tributes will be chosen.
There is a moment of consideration when the card is revealed; in truth, it shouldn’t take that long because what’s written on it is short.
(they make sure of that)
Because for the seventy-fifth anniversary, in honor of the Victor Katniss Everdeen’s valiant sacrifice to spare her sister the fate of the Arena:
“The male and female tributes will be siblings.”
The boy, he’s sixteen and limber and not very muscular, his name is Callum. He’s almost six-feet tall with the same Seam eyes everyone always has, his hair is short and pitch black.
His sister looks almost exactly like him, the same eyes and hair just as black that flows down past her shoulders. Her name is Noelyra; two years younger than her brother with a much more muscular build, an inch or two shorter than Katniss.
District 12 has never had more than one mentor so they allow the tributes to choose between the three of them - Callum picks Haymitch and Noelyra, Katniss. Peeta is more than happy to stay home, as far away from the Capitol as possible.
Brother and sister pass out almost instantly on the sofas in the dining room train after eating and Katniss is glad. Their chances are slim to none like hers, a night of peaceful sleeping is more than anyone could ask for right now.
Katniss wants to help them, wants them to find some confidence in her so they believe they might actually win except she can see it in their eyes that they’ve said their final goodbyes already.
As she watches their chests rise and fall from her chair, she can’t help but feel guilty.
The last Games are a fluke and her victory came at a price - one they force others to pay for her.
It’s the first and last time anyone beats the Capitol and hell will freeze and thaw twice over before it happens again. In a week’s time, Katniss will have the blood of twenty-three others in addition to Glimmer, Marvel, and Cato.
She doesn’t know how to help them win or how to increase their odds, instead she settles on singing a soft tune and carrying Noelyra to her room. When she finds a blanket for Callum, she spots Haymitch walking into the other bedroom with the boy in his arms.
Katniss tucks both of them in, pressing a soft kiss to their foreheads before she retires, too.
Their previous methods fall short.
This new Gamemaker - the one that replaces the too sympathetic predecessor - he has a plan to show everyone that they are not weak. They are the only ones that hold the power.
The Cornucopia lies in the middle of the round island, surrounded by endless ocean. Its use will be apparent after everything is set in place. It lies in plain sight, useless and empty until the finale.
There are three rounds that will weed out the weaker tributes and a final battle to find the Victor; survival through all four rounds will assure that the winner is worthy and not lucky.
Like a clock, the island has twelve partitions with two designated camps at six and twelve because the group of twenty-four tributes will be divided in two. These teams will consist of one tribute from each district, brother and sister will be forced against each other.
Each tribute will be wearing a pendant marked with their district to represent vitality - lose your pendant, lose your life; keep your pendant, keep your life.
They will fight as teams of twelve in the first round, then eight, then four, and finally two in the finale. The Victor will be determined in a final battle between the last two standing and only then will they be crowned.
In addition to the pendants, extra protocols are implemented to insure that tributes will only die when they allow it - no more and no less will die than what they dictate. Absolutely no deaths will occur before their time.
This time there is a plan that will leave nothing to chance.
Finnick ends up volunteering to talk to Katniss.
At first they want to choose Johanna and that would be fine, except Johanna barely has a social filter and Katniss can be dense as ever and they get along, they do, just not this way.
Haymitch was in the run, too, until he trips over something in his imagination reminding them why he’s an even worse decision than Johanna.
When he finds her, she doesn’t talk to him for a good hour. They just sit side by side in silence until something cracks and she drops her head on his shoulder.
Right now, Katniss looks more like a kid than he’s ever seen her before; sometimes he forgets that she’s barely seventeen. She’s so young and they’re making her put the weight of the world on her shoulders and she takes it with tired eyes and haunted soul.
“Who are you trying to be so strong for?” Finnick asks softy.
“Everyone,” she says. “Isn’t that my job now?”
Finnick wants to do more than wrap an arm around her - if he could take her spot, he would in a heartbeat but this is all he can do because no one would follow the pretty boy who’s the face of the Capitol. And since this is all he can do right now, he wraps her up tight in both arms hoping she understands.
You’re safe here, I’ll protect you.
He presses a soft kiss to the top of her head, his voice cracking when he whispers, “I’m sorry.” She nods an understanding where she pillows her head near his neck.
When the tears begin to soak his shirt, he pretends not to notice.
“Their deaths are for the greater good,” is their new mantra.
She has yet to believe it.
Round One is the Retrival.
The first objective is to retrieve another player’s token assigned to them. The next is to retrieve their district flag from the opposing camp. The last is to return back to their camp with both flag and token.
The first team to complete this will enjoy choice provisions, the other will receive the bare minimum.
The first six from each team to complete all three objectives will be spared, the other six will be forced to fight to the death.
The round will end once four from each team are killed.
Relief isn’t the word she would use to describe the sensation that overcomes Katniss when little Noelyra is the last of the first six to return to her team’s camp - she’s torn between wanting it over quickly and wanting their lives to be longer.
Johanna sits with her in the back of the room, Finnick is pacing, Haymitch is sitting closer to the bar drinking with some other mentors, and the rest are scattered about.
Between the three of them, all but the boy from Johanna’s district is safe; him and the boy from District 3 and the both from District 5, 10, and 11 don’t make it back.
No one speaks but Katniss can hear their mantra echo throughout the entire room. It pounds in her ears, everyone’s voice saying the one line over and over again. Almost like if she hears it enough times, she’ll start to believe it.
There’s not a soul in the room that reacts to any of the deaths that are broadcasted. In five districts, five families are mourning the loss of their children but here, no one so much as blinks an eye while watching them get slaughtered.
She wants to be outraged, to be angry at all of them but it’s not her place anymore. Ever since Katniss agreed to their plan, she’s lost her right to be angry because she’s no better than them - maybe even worse.
In an act of defiance, she places a hand on Johanna’s lap - it’s a small gesture that tries to say all the things she wants to say but can’t because she can see the way Johanna’s eyes narrow and her jaw clench while she sits, unmoved.
When Johanna’s grip becomes painful, she realizes she may never believe.
A premature uprising is dealt with in District 8 after round one concludes - for now, the Games must go on.
Round Two is the Hunt.
The teams will be given a list of items they are to locate and bring back to camp. Six of the twelve partitions in the Arena will contain one item each, only one of each item will be provided.
The first team to retrieve all items and return them to their camp will be spared, the other team will be forced to fight to the death.
The round will end once eight are killed, after which the teams will be redistributed for the last round.
The items assigned are frivolous, things from the districts that have already lost tributes from the first round. None of them are fairly big and they’re not hidden too well although it takes a while because finding a specific object in the lush Arena is more taxing than it is difficult.
By the third day into the Round there’s only one item found by the second team.
It’s not very exciting, until a fight breaks out between the boy from 8 and the boy from 4 over the small power box just discovered from District 5. The boy from 4 is bigger so it doesn’t take too long before the one from 8 is overpowered - that’s when Callum comes and the fight goes from two to almost everyone present in the Arena.
Without any weapons, it lasts for a good while until the girl from District 2 has the mind to call off her team when Noelyra gets hit to the side and there’s blood trickling down the boy from 1’s face from a cut above his eye, the boy from 4 probably has a handful of bruised ribs from a combination of Callum and the girl from 1 pounding on him.
The last time one of the Career boys got hot headed, they find out the Arena is rigged with an electric field that shocks everyone inside.
By the time both teams retreat back to their camps, it’s dark and nearly everyone is bruised and battered.
The red light in the mentor room goes off and Katniss knows what this means but round isn’t close to being over and only eight tributes have died, not the sixteen that she’s told; she doesn’t have time to react before Johanna grabs her and shoves her out the door.
All at once, every television that’s broadcasting cuts to black before returning to static and one of those District 13 segments plays on repeat - Panem is cut off from all things Arena.
The only ones who are actually paying attention to their televisions are in the Capitol.
Districts 3, 5, 10, and 11 are already in full revolt triggering the alarms - after the signal is sent, the other eight join them. The Arena’s force field is overpowered by redirecting the electric gird and a sequence of mines begin to destroy it as the remaining tributes scramble to the Cornucopia like the voice instructs them.
The stronger Careers pick up the smaller tribute; they believe this is what they’re supposed to do, protect their team members.
It’s the exact opposite but this is exactly what they want.
Katniss is perfectly aware that she’s slipping off the edge of the hovercraft except the only thing that matters right now is that Noelyra’s tiny hand is slipping, too, and there’s absolutely nothing more she can do to bring her home.
The girl dives out after her brother doesn’t manage to get his feet securely on the ladder before the other hovercraft has to take off and the electric surge isn’t enough to sustain his grip. Katniss tumbles out right after her hoping she can catch her before it’s too late.
She manages to grab her forearm with one hand, anchoring herself with the other but it doesn’t help - her arm is straining against the girl’s weight and it becomes painfully more obvious which each second passing that this is futile.
Noelyra is dangling from Katniss’s arm, calling out for her brother through the sobs that break her voice.
When Katniss looks down, it breaks her heart - seeing the girl crying out for someone who’s lost, their grip slipping, the trembling of her muscles. But the thing that hits her hardest is the look in her eyes, the same one that Cato gives her when he mouths “please” and she ends his life.
Katniss has to close her eyes to push back the tears that are welling, still trying to be strong.
And she can't find any words that seem good enough, so when she looks back down at little Noelyra one last time she uses the last bit of strength she has left to squeeze her hand before her arm goes slack.
I’m sorry I couldn’t bring you home.
She doesn’t let herself cry until Haymitch’s arms shield her from everyone else.
Haymitch is the one knocking on her door this time.
There’s a bottle of his favorite whiskey in one hand and two glasses in the other, there’s no dining room this time so she sits on the edge of her bed and Haymitch claims the foot of the bed next to her.
It’s their way of talking - staying next to each other like that, drinking and refilling the other’s glass until the bottle is empty and Katniss’s head ends up on his shoulder.
And they’re not so good with words so they don’t use them, they don’t need to anyways because when he shows up she knows -
I’ll always bring you home.
This is to remind the Capitol of their place and how districts will kindly help them remember.
This is the way it will be, to show the Capitol that they are weaker than they believe and the districts are stronger than they give credit.
Because in seventy-five years, they have forgotten their own strength -
Their sparks of hope are lit by a cruel hand only to be extinguished as soon as it catches, drowning them in sorrow and despair that cripples them. Their will to fight covered by grief. Their courage tainted by pain.
But one spark escapes, one that burns bright enough to drive away the shadows that hold them prisoner. Starting small and catching fire to all that surrounds it, igniting the cold in their hearts and souls and they remember that this life is not living.
The fire gives them new strength to do what they have been so afraid to in the past and at the very heart of this is the Girl on Fire -
Her name is Katniss Everdeen and she is the symbol of their hope.
Rated: T for Teenz
Autor's note: I entertained head gamemaker as a career path and this is what happened. Essentially written for casterlys in the THG ficathon - prompt was an AU where Katniss didn't go back into the Arena and was a mentor instead.
Summary: It's a coincidence it rhymes with hell.
Once every twenty-five years, the rules are bent to the whims of the presiding Head Gamemaker and the president in office at the time.
Nothing is too out of the ordinary and everything is fair game.
This is the way it’s been since the Capitol gained control. To show the Districts that they are the merciful ones allowing the Hunger Games to be as tame as they are. Because they have the power to do as they please on any given whim, yet they limit themselves to this battle of survival once a year that’s only fair as penance.
It’s the least the Districts could do, after all, what with starting a rebellion and nearly destroying everything. This is their place and this is how they are kindly reminded.
These are the 75th Hunger Games - this is the Quarter Quell.
(it’s a coincidence it rhymes with hell)
Katniss looks over at Haymitch when he calls her name.
They’re a little more than three-fourths of the way through on their first bottle of whiskey, so she doesn’t really take stock in his beckoning.
She’s more interested in the glass right now, anyhow.
It’s straight out of District 1, still bright and shiny and pristine - the detailing is remarkable, much more extravagant than she ever imagines a cup being capable of.
It reminds her of herself - the etched diamond shapes are inlayed with what is probably gold, something reflective in the glass makes it sparkle almost unnaturally. Underneath it all, it serves the same purpose a plain cup does but to please others, it’s been polished, injected, bedazzled, and who knows what else.
She takes a swig that ends up emptying her glass. The amber liquid burns again as it goes down her throat, leaving a warmth that makes the foul stuff worth it.
He groans out her name again. “Hmm?” she hums.
Maybe the liquor’s getting to her but the sun coming through the blinds feels good and Katniss starts to think that coming to him isn’t such a bad idea after all. This is the first time they talk to each other since she knocks on his door and he lets her in and they station themselves at his dining room table.
Her and Haymitch understand each other better when they don’t talk -
I’m lost, by knocking on his door, it’s alright, by taking out an extra glass for her, thank you, by pouring him the first drink, and I’m here, by pushing the bottle over to her side.
It’s how things have been since the Arena - neither are very good with words - and it works for them.
So when he says “don’t start yet, sweetheart,” and Katniss answers with, “well, you are my mentor,” it comes out harsher than she intends. She takes the bottle and pours the last of the whiskey into his glass.
I’m sorry.
It’ll be okay, is what he says when he pushes his glass in her direction.
When the lid of the silver box is lifted, a spotlight illuminates its contents.
An abundance of tiny envelopes in the antique silver box are lined up neatly, boasting how infallible their reign is because even though this event only occurs once every twenty-five years, there will be plenty of opportunities.
Each of the envelopes lined inside are identical, save their respective year printed on them, closed with a seal of the Capitol in this blood red candle wax.
The room is broadcasted all over Panem when the envelope with the 75 on it is chosen. The air is thick as the seal is broken. It’s almost as if you can hear everyone across the Districts holding their breath to see how this year’s tributes will be chosen.
There is a moment of consideration when the card is revealed; in truth, it shouldn’t take that long because what’s written on it is short.
(they make sure of that)
Because for the seventy-fifth anniversary, in honor of the Victor Katniss Everdeen’s valiant sacrifice to spare her sister the fate of the Arena:
“The male and female tributes will be siblings.”
The boy, he’s sixteen and limber and not very muscular, his name is Callum. He’s almost six-feet tall with the same Seam eyes everyone always has, his hair is short and pitch black.
His sister looks almost exactly like him, the same eyes and hair just as black that flows down past her shoulders. Her name is Noelyra; two years younger than her brother with a much more muscular build, an inch or two shorter than Katniss.
District 12 has never had more than one mentor so they allow the tributes to choose between the three of them - Callum picks Haymitch and Noelyra, Katniss. Peeta is more than happy to stay home, as far away from the Capitol as possible.
Brother and sister pass out almost instantly on the sofas in the dining room train after eating and Katniss is glad. Their chances are slim to none like hers, a night of peaceful sleeping is more than anyone could ask for right now.
Katniss wants to help them, wants them to find some confidence in her so they believe they might actually win except she can see it in their eyes that they’ve said their final goodbyes already.
As she watches their chests rise and fall from her chair, she can’t help but feel guilty.
The last Games are a fluke and her victory came at a price - one they force others to pay for her.
It’s the first and last time anyone beats the Capitol and hell will freeze and thaw twice over before it happens again. In a week’s time, Katniss will have the blood of twenty-three others in addition to Glimmer, Marvel, and Cato.
She doesn’t know how to help them win or how to increase their odds, instead she settles on singing a soft tune and carrying Noelyra to her room. When she finds a blanket for Callum, she spots Haymitch walking into the other bedroom with the boy in his arms.
Katniss tucks both of them in, pressing a soft kiss to their foreheads before she retires, too.
Their previous methods fall short.
This new Gamemaker - the one that replaces the too sympathetic predecessor - he has a plan to show everyone that they are not weak. They are the only ones that hold the power.
The Cornucopia lies in the middle of the round island, surrounded by endless ocean. Its use will be apparent after everything is set in place. It lies in plain sight, useless and empty until the finale.
There are three rounds that will weed out the weaker tributes and a final battle to find the Victor; survival through all four rounds will assure that the winner is worthy and not lucky.
Like a clock, the island has twelve partitions with two designated camps at six and twelve because the group of twenty-four tributes will be divided in two. These teams will consist of one tribute from each district, brother and sister will be forced against each other.
Each tribute will be wearing a pendant marked with their district to represent vitality - lose your pendant, lose your life; keep your pendant, keep your life.
They will fight as teams of twelve in the first round, then eight, then four, and finally two in the finale. The Victor will be determined in a final battle between the last two standing and only then will they be crowned.
In addition to the pendants, extra protocols are implemented to insure that tributes will only die when they allow it - no more and no less will die than what they dictate. Absolutely no deaths will occur before their time.
This time there is a plan that will leave nothing to chance.
Finnick ends up volunteering to talk to Katniss.
At first they want to choose Johanna and that would be fine, except Johanna barely has a social filter and Katniss can be dense as ever and they get along, they do, just not this way.
Haymitch was in the run, too, until he trips over something in his imagination reminding them why he’s an even worse decision than Johanna.
When he finds her, she doesn’t talk to him for a good hour. They just sit side by side in silence until something cracks and she drops her head on his shoulder.
Right now, Katniss looks more like a kid than he’s ever seen her before; sometimes he forgets that she’s barely seventeen. She’s so young and they’re making her put the weight of the world on her shoulders and she takes it with tired eyes and haunted soul.
“Who are you trying to be so strong for?” Finnick asks softy.
“Everyone,” she says. “Isn’t that my job now?”
Finnick wants to do more than wrap an arm around her - if he could take her spot, he would in a heartbeat but this is all he can do because no one would follow the pretty boy who’s the face of the Capitol. And since this is all he can do right now, he wraps her up tight in both arms hoping she understands.
You’re safe here, I’ll protect you.
He presses a soft kiss to the top of her head, his voice cracking when he whispers, “I’m sorry.” She nods an understanding where she pillows her head near his neck.
When the tears begin to soak his shirt, he pretends not to notice.
“Their deaths are for the greater good,” is their new mantra.
She has yet to believe it.
Round One is the Retrival.
The first objective is to retrieve another player’s token assigned to them. The next is to retrieve their district flag from the opposing camp. The last is to return back to their camp with both flag and token.
The first team to complete this will enjoy choice provisions, the other will receive the bare minimum.
The first six from each team to complete all three objectives will be spared, the other six will be forced to fight to the death.
The round will end once four from each team are killed.
Relief isn’t the word she would use to describe the sensation that overcomes Katniss when little Noelyra is the last of the first six to return to her team’s camp - she’s torn between wanting it over quickly and wanting their lives to be longer.
Johanna sits with her in the back of the room, Finnick is pacing, Haymitch is sitting closer to the bar drinking with some other mentors, and the rest are scattered about.
Between the three of them, all but the boy from Johanna’s district is safe; him and the boy from District 3 and the both from District 5, 10, and 11 don’t make it back.
No one speaks but Katniss can hear their mantra echo throughout the entire room. It pounds in her ears, everyone’s voice saying the one line over and over again. Almost like if she hears it enough times, she’ll start to believe it.
There’s not a soul in the room that reacts to any of the deaths that are broadcasted. In five districts, five families are mourning the loss of their children but here, no one so much as blinks an eye while watching them get slaughtered.
She wants to be outraged, to be angry at all of them but it’s not her place anymore. Ever since Katniss agreed to their plan, she’s lost her right to be angry because she’s no better than them - maybe even worse.
In an act of defiance, she places a hand on Johanna’s lap - it’s a small gesture that tries to say all the things she wants to say but can’t because she can see the way Johanna’s eyes narrow and her jaw clench while she sits, unmoved.
When Johanna’s grip becomes painful, she realizes she may never believe.
A premature uprising is dealt with in District 8 after round one concludes - for now, the Games must go on.
Round Two is the Hunt.
The teams will be given a list of items they are to locate and bring back to camp. Six of the twelve partitions in the Arena will contain one item each, only one of each item will be provided.
The first team to retrieve all items and return them to their camp will be spared, the other team will be forced to fight to the death.
The round will end once eight are killed, after which the teams will be redistributed for the last round.
The items assigned are frivolous, things from the districts that have already lost tributes from the first round. None of them are fairly big and they’re not hidden too well although it takes a while because finding a specific object in the lush Arena is more taxing than it is difficult.
By the third day into the Round there’s only one item found by the second team.
It’s not very exciting, until a fight breaks out between the boy from 8 and the boy from 4 over the small power box just discovered from District 5. The boy from 4 is bigger so it doesn’t take too long before the one from 8 is overpowered - that’s when Callum comes and the fight goes from two to almost everyone present in the Arena.
Without any weapons, it lasts for a good while until the girl from District 2 has the mind to call off her team when Noelyra gets hit to the side and there’s blood trickling down the boy from 1’s face from a cut above his eye, the boy from 4 probably has a handful of bruised ribs from a combination of Callum and the girl from 1 pounding on him.
The last time one of the Career boys got hot headed, they find out the Arena is rigged with an electric field that shocks everyone inside.
By the time both teams retreat back to their camps, it’s dark and nearly everyone is bruised and battered.
The red light in the mentor room goes off and Katniss knows what this means but round isn’t close to being over and only eight tributes have died, not the sixteen that she’s told; she doesn’t have time to react before Johanna grabs her and shoves her out the door.
All at once, every television that’s broadcasting cuts to black before returning to static and one of those District 13 segments plays on repeat - Panem is cut off from all things Arena.
The only ones who are actually paying attention to their televisions are in the Capitol.
Districts 3, 5, 10, and 11 are already in full revolt triggering the alarms - after the signal is sent, the other eight join them. The Arena’s force field is overpowered by redirecting the electric gird and a sequence of mines begin to destroy it as the remaining tributes scramble to the Cornucopia like the voice instructs them.
The stronger Careers pick up the smaller tribute; they believe this is what they’re supposed to do, protect their team members.
It’s the exact opposite but this is exactly what they want.
Katniss is perfectly aware that she’s slipping off the edge of the hovercraft except the only thing that matters right now is that Noelyra’s tiny hand is slipping, too, and there’s absolutely nothing more she can do to bring her home.
The girl dives out after her brother doesn’t manage to get his feet securely on the ladder before the other hovercraft has to take off and the electric surge isn’t enough to sustain his grip. Katniss tumbles out right after her hoping she can catch her before it’s too late.
She manages to grab her forearm with one hand, anchoring herself with the other but it doesn’t help - her arm is straining against the girl’s weight and it becomes painfully more obvious which each second passing that this is futile.
Noelyra is dangling from Katniss’s arm, calling out for her brother through the sobs that break her voice.
When Katniss looks down, it breaks her heart - seeing the girl crying out for someone who’s lost, their grip slipping, the trembling of her muscles. But the thing that hits her hardest is the look in her eyes, the same one that Cato gives her when he mouths “please” and she ends his life.
Katniss has to close her eyes to push back the tears that are welling, still trying to be strong.
And she can't find any words that seem good enough, so when she looks back down at little Noelyra one last time she uses the last bit of strength she has left to squeeze her hand before her arm goes slack.
I’m sorry I couldn’t bring you home.
She doesn’t let herself cry until Haymitch’s arms shield her from everyone else.
Haymitch is the one knocking on her door this time.
There’s a bottle of his favorite whiskey in one hand and two glasses in the other, there’s no dining room this time so she sits on the edge of her bed and Haymitch claims the foot of the bed next to her.
It’s their way of talking - staying next to each other like that, drinking and refilling the other’s glass until the bottle is empty and Katniss’s head ends up on his shoulder.
And they’re not so good with words so they don’t use them, they don’t need to anyways because when he shows up she knows -
I’ll always bring you home.
This is to remind the Capitol of their place and how districts will kindly help them remember.
This is the way it will be, to show the Capitol that they are weaker than they believe and the districts are stronger than they give credit.
Because in seventy-five years, they have forgotten their own strength -
Their sparks of hope are lit by a cruel hand only to be extinguished as soon as it catches, drowning them in sorrow and despair that cripples them. Their will to fight covered by grief. Their courage tainted by pain.
But one spark escapes, one that burns bright enough to drive away the shadows that hold them prisoner. Starting small and catching fire to all that surrounds it, igniting the cold in their hearts and souls and they remember that this life is not living.
The fire gives them new strength to do what they have been so afraid to in the past and at the very heart of this is the Girl on Fire -
Her name is Katniss Everdeen and she is the symbol of their hope.