Chapter Text
The frost was coming. It was the time of year where its arrival was imminent, and anyone who'd spent any amount of time in District 12 could feel it. The air had a crispness to it and the nights were getting cooler. The leaves were starting to change colour too; vibrant reds, golden yellows and bright oranges. Any day now, they'd wake up to a thick layer of frost on the ground. Katniss and Peeta had already started sleeping under their heavier blankets — although the window remained open as usual. Peeta's body heat was more than sufficient at keeping Katniss warm and toasty, but she liked the additional soft comfort of the blankets. Soon they'd be digging out the flannel pajamas too, should they choose to actually wear them.
As he intended, Peeta was able to use some of the flowers hanging out front to make unique watercolours for his paint studio. A new, small canvas of Katniss sniffing the flowers was framed at the bakery, next to a photo taken at their toasting dinner. It was one of Peeta's favourite pieces, although Katniss liked to tease him for being biased, saying he wanted the bakery to be full of "beautiful things." "Having an eye for beauty isn't the same thing as a weakness, except for when it comes to you," he gently reminded her. Katniss was Peeta's whole world, he wanted her everywhere.
Katniss took the heartier vegetables to be used in soups and stews. Butternut squash soup was a fall favourite between her and Peeta, a luxury she never pictured to have. She froze some with meatier game she'd hunted, determined to make delicious meals throughout the winter. Sometimes it was still hard for her to believe she didn't need to worry about where her next meal would come from, let alone the rest of her district.
So with the looming frost and change of season came the day Haymitch had been waiting for: Judgment Day, as he liked to call it. The final big harvest day, for Haymitch at least. Katniss had been stuck with declaring the winner, although Haymitch also griped Peeta had an "unfair advantage." Katniss rolled her eyes at this. "Why would you ask me to be your judge if you're just going to blame me if you don't like my judgment?" Just for that, she told Haymitch she would declare Peeta as the winner.
For someone who wasn't taking any of this seriously, Katniss even had a pen and clipboard to "check off" criteria she was allegedly looking for. The checklist came from Effie, who must've been given it from Flavius. Katniss didn't keep up much with her old prep team, and occasionally Effie, so it wasn't lost on her that Haymitch, of all people, seemed to be the point of connection with the preps.
The first garden to get assessed was Haymitch's. Katniss sucked it up and walked around examining Haymitch's produce while he plucked and pulled it into a wheelbarrow borrowed from across the lawn. His garden was in good shape, probably one of its best days all season. Tidied up, tools put away, you name it. Relative to how Haymitch's house can often look, this was immaculate. He really would benefit from his own slew of yard tools if this happens again next year. Haymitch's carrots turned out well: vibrant, thick, and sturdy. The tomatoes, which faced the biggest time crunch to be harvested before the frost, were also plump and earthy. Haymitch could sustain himself on sandwiches as long as they tomatoes were good. In fact, it was encouraged he use the tomatoes as to not be wasteful.
"What do I do with these cages?" asked Haymitch.
"Use them for next year, obviously," said Katniss. "You are planting again next spring, right?"
"Well, yeah I guess." It took some thinking but he decided he would start a garden again next spring, regardless of who "wins" the garden war. All things considered, it hadn't been that much of an effort to deal with. Sure, he had a mess to deal with from the mint. There would not be any mint growing in his garden next year, that's for damn sure. If he wanted something minty, he could just order something off the train.
Katniss nodded her head and continued her assessment. "Careless with mint…" she muttered, scribbling something on her clipboard. Haymitch let out a sound of disgust and annoyance.
Peeta arrived home from the bakery just in time for his evaluation to start. He was feeling confident and pleased with the work he put in this summer.
"Peeta… great quantity. Great size across the board," she noted. Peeta snickered and smirked, she walked herself into that one. "Oh shut up," scolded Katniss.
"Had a bit of a hiccup with the flower pots…"
"Hey, excuse me?! I think that was Haymitch who fell off the ladder? Or are you talking about the bee sting. Because that's dirty, Katniss," admonished Peeta. She shot him a look, clearly trying to convey she didn't care. It was Haymitch's turn to laugh.
So with both gardens ready for their final harvest, it was finally time to pick a "winner."
Finally, after much "deliberation," Katniss announced she'd picked a winner for this year's garden competition.
“And the winner is… no one," said Katniss.
“Oh come on! I thought this was a competition!” shouted Haymitch, arms flailing around. Of course asking Katniss was a mistake, he thought. Peeta also shouted nonsense, how could no one be the winner? It had been years since he'd had a healthy competition through wrestling, there was no such thing as "no winners" there! "You better have a good reason for this, Katniss," Peeta insisted.
“Actually, I do. It would be unfair of me to properly judge it,” said Katniss. “I’m just impressed with the effort you did put into it. I mean you, Haymitch. Honestly. I figured you’d get a day’s work in and give up. But you didn’t. You kept up with the maintenance and you've had a steady supply of vegetables to eat from. You have a few flowers hanging in a pot, which look rather nice compared to the… usual state of your house. You've even taken a few things to the Hob and have been well received there. So even if Peeta has more experience and I’ve helped him over the years, you’ve done a good job… and I’m proud of you,” Katniss said, whispering the last part.
“Well… thanks Sweetheart.”
"Kind of sounds like you're picking Haymitch as your winner," muttered Peeta.
Katniss stared at her husband, annoyed and slightly appalled. His old competitive streak had broken through once again. "Kind of sounds like you were threatened by Haymitch after all. Got anything to say for that?" Peeta turned away from Katniss and Haymitch. He wasn't getting out of this one so he chose to move on.
“What the hell am I going to do with all of these?” Haymitch gestured to his surroundings. Sure, his time at the Hob had been far more successful than he pictured it would be, and people around the district made note of Haymitch's "new and improved lifestyle." But he ended up with a lot more produce than anticipated. Greasy Sae had her share from Haymitch, enough that with the right prep, she too would be making her soups and stews throughout the winter.
"Freeze them and use them throughout the winter," said Katniss. "That's what Peeta and I do." Haymitch gave Katniss a dirty look. "Oh, don't like me telling you how to make your own food? You certainly have no problems telling me how to make mine!"
Haymitch walked to his door. Just before going inside, he turned around and looked Peeta dead in the eye.
“Next year, we’re doing this for real.”
The end.