"And there we have it! Look at her! Look at them!"

The sound of Caesar Flickerman's charming buoyant voice boomed through the Capitol, and all you could see were the dazzling bright lights glaring into your eyes. Cheers erupted all over, and if they weren't loud enough when Effie, Haymitch, the prep team and the stylists stepped onto the stage, you could appropriately say that they have just gone beyond the roof, the way they were shouting your name, wolf-whistling from the top, the flashes of neon colours and vibrant hues shining into your eyes.

And then, as you glanced to your left, you saw him, and you felt a smile grow. There, standing just opposite of you onstage, in a jacket of the same material as your dress, black dress pants, and sturdy black dress shoes, his blond hair gelled back the same way as it had at the reaping, was Peeta Mellark. The sight of your best friend, well groomed and practically okay, immediately made you rush to him as he surged towards you at the same time, his limp barely noticeable as he ran. Eventually, you felt him collide with you, his arms wrapped around you so tightly you didn't want to let him go, your head buried into his chest as it had all those years, all this time, and even in the arena too when you thought you would never find your way back to him.

"So, we meet, (Y/N)," Peeta murmured, and you glanced up at him with a smirk.

"Yes, we do," you replied before cupping a hand on his cheek and kissing him full on the lips again, making the crowd go wild. Of course, they probably would. Having seen you and Peeta work together, they would have to agree you and he made a great team throughout the second half of the Games, and seeing your chemistry onscreen and even now made the cheers grow louder.

Of course, Peeta didn't hesitate to kiss you back. Lips moved perfectly in synchronization for a few moments before Caesar eventually had to get the show rolling, and you both obliged as you took your seats, preparing yourselves to watch the compilation of the Games in a 3-hour long video.

In the past, the victor had to sit in a throne-like chair, but since there were two victors a love seat was arranged for the both of you to sit on. Instantly, you hopped onto the love seat and bounced on it eagerly, making Peeta laugh as he took his seat beside you, and you wrapped your arms around him from the side as you kicked your sandals off too, bringing your feet up. Peeta chuckled as he wrapped an arm around your back, leaning his head on yours as the crowd went "AWWWWW!!!!"

Every year, the video tries to illustrate a different theme that surrounds the victor. But this year, for the first time, they decided the theme was to be a love story, since both you and Peeta won the Games. Oh, and also a bit more to that, since you have made a lot of friends in the arena, they added on, "A toast to Friendship and Love".

Now that was a stellar title for the video, in your opinion.

The first half an hour was basically a recap of the reapings, the parade, the training scores, and the interviews. No big surprises there, in your opinion, except for the fact that cameras were literally everywhere. It was a miracle you didn't start crying--and it was a good thing you didn't at the interview anyway. If you did, right then and there onstage, it would have been embarrassing to put on a film.

Then the Games began. There was much confusion as you ran off with the Careers while you watched Peeta dart into the woods straight behind the cornucopia. Your eyes widened at this, and then you realized the cameras shot back to you with the Careers. Of course, they got all the footage, including your brief comforts with Cato and everything you did with Pearl and Glimmer and Clove. Peeta also got a bit of share of camera, dodging fire balls and running on a seriously sprained ankle.

"I didn't know," you murmured to Peeta, looking up at him. "No wonder you looked so banged up after."

Peeta nodded bitterly. "Yeah. Or one of the reasons anyway," he whispered, pulling you close to him as you examined his legs. How did the Capitol fix him up then?

It seemed like everyone was wondering about the whole "Cato and (Y/N)" affair, because next moment as your head was laid on Cato's shoulder for the last time you felt the tears burn again behind your eyes, knowing that you would never see Cato again, to do that to him again. Everyone seemed to be murmuring now as they watched you and Cato sleep together, and Peeta sent the tracker jacker nest on the Careers the very next morning, causing shrieks not only to come out of the tributes' mouths but also their own.

"Damn, I will never forget that moment," you muttered, throwing a look at Peeta.

"Oh, uh...uh," Peeta managed to mutter before he cleared his throat. "Uh, well...that can be...explained..."

Later on, the Capitol got a good view of you and Rue together while Peeta was at the riverbank, camouflaging himself and then whispering your name like a prayer. You noticed also that the moment Rue died along with Marvel, who you had to kill out of reflex, the Capitol cut nothing. They played their deaths in full, which made you raise an eyebrow. Then it hit you. Probably because they didn't want to miss out any ally's death in the arena. But you did notice they omitted your screaming and the flower arranging on their bodies.

Of course. Because even that serves as a slap in the face.

Things then turned when they announced that two victors from the same district would be allowed, and there was some more murmuring whenever you and Peeta were arguing, but then with every kiss and hug everyone relaxed into an "AWWWW!" while glancing at the both of you. It seemed very embarrassing, in your opinion, to be showing them something that linked to your past. Come to think of it, you already knew they knew you two were best friends, but you just never expected the cameras to capture this much.

Then there came the final moments in the arena. Cato's death, the berries. You buried your face into Peeta's shirt for about 5 seconds, already knowing that you were going to cry hard over the loss, and surprisingly, as the rest of the Capitol fell to a complete silence. No one spoke as Cato's death was played in full again, just like Rue and Marvel's, with the mutt's claws sinking into Cato's chest and your scream of fright following that.

"I can't," you whimpered to Peeta softly, hugging him tightly.

"Shh, (Y/N). It's okay," he whispered, rubbing your arm lightly as he reached over and adjusted your circlet on your head, and you only trusted yourself to watch yourself comfort Cato and kiss him once, as he had wanted. This moved the audience to tears, and you agreed it did the same to you too. Then came the moment of the berries. Everyone was holding their breath, though you could hear the occasional sob here and there, possibly still from Cato's death.

You bit your lip as you clutched onto Peeta, already knowing that even though you didn't eat the berries you were close to dying with every moment, and then came the announcement of the victors, the final hovercraft rides, and you waking from a fitful sleep to end the film.

Everyone in the country had to watch this, you knew. And who knew what was going on in your mom's mind? Or even Delly's, Katniss's, Prim's, Mr. Mellark's? Would your mom be okay with you giving your final token of home to a boy she barely knew, but a boy who you knew made such a big impact on your life? Is Katniss okay with Peeta loving you instead of her, as he claimed in the interview? Would Prim be okay with how you managed to fight to ensure her victory? One can only hope that they take this lightly. Your friends and family back home, in other words. Already knowing that the Capitol is targeting you, you took a deep breath and only tried to look serene and calm as you slowly detached yourself from Peeta and stood up with him to receive the victor's crown from President Snow himself.

"You might want to take that off," Peeta whispered, helping you take off the circlet that District 1 gave you, and you obliged as you set it on the seat, your hand finding Peeta's unconsciously as it linked with his, fingers intertwining tightly.

President Snow then walked onto the stage, dressed in a black long jacket, a white rose pinned to his lapel, just in the same way you remembered seeing him with at the tributes' parade. Walking just behind him was a younger girl, who carried in her arms a velvet green cushion with two crowns sitting innocently on the cushion. You nodded as you squeezed Peeta's hand tight, feeling his hand squeeze you back in return, and then President Snow picked one of the crowns up, placing it gingerly on your head first.

"Congratulations, (Y/N)," he murmured to you in a low gravelly voice.

You nodded and gave a curt smile. "Thank you."

President snow nodded back as his eyes fell onto your pendant that your mom gave you. "What a lovely pendant."

"Thank you, it's from my district," you murmured, eyes never leaving his face.

"They must be very proud of you," President Snow nodded curtly, bowing slightly before retrieving the second crown for Peeta and doing almost the exact same thing--put the crown on his head, initiate some small conversation, and then leave the both of you alone onstage.

The crowds went wild once more as you and Peeta raised your locked hands, smiling and waving as you once did in the tribute parade. Though at this point the ceremony was long over, you didn't mind the attention at all, and you just kept waving and smiling and even blowing kisses until Caesar had to quiet the crowd down, reminding them that the final victor interview would be televised live at 10 the next morning.

Instantly, after the huge mass of people left, you and Peeta both went backstage to a squealing Effie, a beaming Haymitch, and a grinning Cinna and Portia.

"You two were PERFECT," Effie chirped enthusiastically as she gave you two a spontaneous hug.

Haymitch nodded at the both of you. "Good job, both of you."

"I'm honestly really scared for the interview tomorrow," you murmured. "What if I mess up my words and just spill out my true intentions? The Capitol would see everything! They'd think I...they'd think I just do that for me, and not for the true purposes of the Games!"

But something in you told you that this wasn't true. You saw it on all the Capitol citizens' faces, the way they reacted when you were with Cato and all those other allies, doing whatever you could not only to keep yourself alive but to protect others from harm. That somehow, with the video the filmmakers put together, the tide has started to turn. Somehow, they must have been on your side, supporting you through and through. But is this a temporary thing? Or would this turn into something...something more permanent that you'd have to handle?

"They don't know that as of yet," Haymitch told you and Peeta now. "Just be really careful with what you say to Caesar tomorrow. If there is any clearing up you have to do, do it. Otherwise, you'd be in further trouble."

You nodded and followed the rest of the group back up to the elevators, your grip still firm on Peeta's hand. Tomorrow, everyone would be asking the questions. Tomorrow, everyone would be wondering. And tomorrow, you have to put everything at rest.

Tomorrow, you can't screw anything up.