sugar and spice; Kaplan

[charade]

Days after her meetings with Kirito and Harbinger, Katelyn had been surprised to hear a knock at the door; more surprised to see Yui Mirisitioma. Her door was always open, of course, and she frequently made treats for everyone in both families, but still. “Come in, come in.” she’d said. “I was in the middle of making cookies. Come along!”

She hadn’t really given the girl a choice and had bustled her to the kitchen.

It was nice to have a visitor.

Reaping age, certainly. Maybe around thirteen? If she remembered correctly, she’d been an orphan from four. Katelyn’s attention went back to the mixing bowls. The dough was already done. Butter, white and brown sugar in equal parts. Eggs. Flour, baking soda, salt. Chocolate Chips. And a dash of vanilla. A recipe for success. And about four dozen cookies.

“So what brings you here? Does your Dad know you’re out and about?” Maybe she was allowed to. Katelyn didn’t know. She hadn’t spent a whole lot of time around children that weren’t tributes. And those weeks before the arena, on the train and in the center were never enough to connect. Not unless those tributes came home, and even then, not always. Kassandra was proof enough of that. One day soon, she’d see about connecting with the young victor, though perhaps this time she’d leave the fudge at home.

There had to be a dessert she liked though right? Everyone had one.

Katelyn let the thought slip out of her mind and kept forming small globes of dough with her hands and softly pressing them into one of the three baking sheets. It made her a little sad to know that this likely the last big batch she was going to be making for a while. With rationing going into effect soon after the mysterious silo fires, she was going to have to keep an eye on her flour storage.

Katelyn stifled a sigh and glanced at Yui again. It was actually pretty hard to make conversation with children that wasn’t about the games, and how to attempt to survive them. And that wasn’t a thought she wanted to entertain. Harbinger and Kirito’s eldest were eligible for the reaping too. With the quell looming ahead, she found that old worry creeping in. There was a new generation to be concerned about now, and quells were unpredictable.

But for the moment, she could let Yui be the kid she never got to be.

“I was actually making this batch for your siblings and your cousins.” She said with a warm smile. “Do you want to help?”

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[kap]

Yui Miristioma

The reaping was coming up- my third one- and I was just as nervous as I was for the first one, but I tried my best to look for positive things. I've always been a 'glass half full' kind of girl. What were some good things about the reaping? Hmmm. I thought long and hard about it, and for the first time in my life, i couldn't find a silver lining. It was unusual, and to be completely honest, it kind-of hurt to realize that.

I didn't like when things hurt. Did any normal person like pain, though? I didn't think so, but I could be wrong. Perhaps there were some people who were quite different from myself, in that sense, who might still be classified as 'normal' people, but I just didn't know them. I suppose you never know. The world is full of mysteries, after all.

Today, I wanted- or more so needed- a distraction from the reaping that was so quickly creeping up on me and everyone else in the country known as Panem. For a moment I wondered what it would be like if I didn't live in Panem, but I'm not sure that'd even be possible. They tell us there's no one else left, after all. I just don't know if I should completely believe them or not.

I suppose I'll never know.

The distraction I decided to give myself might get me in trouble with Dad later, as I left the house without permission, but at least I wasn't going to do something stupid. I was going to visit Katelyn Persimmon, or as I liked to call her, Auntie Katelyn. Unsure of what I'd do when I'd get there, I hoped that she'd have something in store for me as I knocked on the door.

Knock, knock, knock.

The door opens and there stands Auntie Katelyn. She welcomes me in rather cheerily, explaining that she was in the middle of making cookies, which, to me, sounded fantastic! It was one of the best sorts of distractions I could've asked for. I definitely liked the thought of cookies more than I liked the thought of the reaping.

She asked me what brought me here, and if my Dad knew I was here. I answered half of her questions, as she didn't need to know that Dad didn't know where I was, but I also didn't want to blatantly lie to her.

"I needed a distraction," I told her honestly. "The reaping is getting closer and it scares me."

I got a kind smile from Auntie Katelyn as she said that she was making this batch for my siblings and cousins. She then asked me if I wanted to help, and I smiled back.

"Only if I get to try one when they're done!" I giggled. I quickly wrapped her up in that tight, happy hug that was the signature Yui hug. I let go, smiled big again, and waited to see what she had to say.

[charade]

As kids were wont to do, getting a complete answer out of Yui was like pulling teeth and Katelyn made a mental note to walk her home when the batch was done. She’d been planning to head over there anyway. Though, the answer she did get tugged at her heartstrings. Even as an adult and a victor she still felt unsettled as the reaping drew near, though for different reasons than when she was a child.

She’d forgotten what it was like, when the reaping was the only thing she’d had to worry about. Now there were a half a dozen different scenarios to be concerned about instead of the reaping. Everything from peacekeepers busting down her door to Opal not feeling the same when they were in the Capitol again. Without meaning to, she glanced in the direction of the phone, a sense of longing stirring in her chest.

And then the sudden hug melted her heart.

Precious.

It was nice that in eleven she just aunt Katelyn to these kids. A far cry from the children in the Capitol that saw her as a celebrity. One time, a young boy, probably no older than twelve had asked her what it had been like to cut off Dillon’s leg. He loved it when tributes severed limbs. Katelyn had been at a loss for words, signed an autograph and excused herself. It was still better than when adult fans tried to talk to her about the Bachelorette or whether or not there was someone special in her life yet.

Katelyn pushed those thoughts away and laughed quietly before pulling a jar down from the top of the fridge.

“Here, I keep cookies on hand for moments like this. But wash your hands first!” she said, before doing the same. Katelyn scooped a portion of the cookie dough and put in another bowl, sliding it and a baking tray down the counter over to Yui. Then she went back to forming little balls of dough. “Thanks for helping me, Yui. It’s going to be a good batch.” Katelyn eyed the girl and wondered if she should broach the subject of the reaping. Yui had brought it up first after all

But no, the girl had wanted a distraction from that. And Katelyn would have been lying if she told Yui not to worry.

So instead, she opted to try to make her laugh instead.

How exactly did one entertain pre-teens anyhow?

“Have you ever tried to eat cookie dough? It’s pretty tasty,” she said as she grabbed a lump. She took a bite and then made a face, spluttering and spitting it out into the sink. “Well, not if you get a glob of raw egg,” she said dryly. “But that’s what milk is for.”

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[kap]

Yui Miristioma

When I spoke to Auntie Katelyn, somehow, things just felt less scary. I felt happy here, with her. Why couldn't I see her every day? I love my family that I live with, too, but Auntie Katelyn is one of the best parts of my day whenever I get to be around her.

She laughed at my comment about the cookies and told me that she kept cookies on hand for times like this: I just had to wash my hands first. So, I did just that. I scrubbed my hands clean and then picked up a cookie, taking a big bite out of it.

A bowl of cookie dough and a baking tray were slid towards me.

Auntie Katelyn thanked me for helping her, saying that our batch of cookies was going to be a good one, and I smiled.

"Of course it will be! You know what you're doing!" I laughed.

I finished my cookie, and Auntie Katelyn asked me if I'd tried to eat cookie dough before. I told her I hadn't, and she told me that it was pretty tasty before spitting out what was a glob of egg into the sink. I giggled a bit in response.

"I wanna try!" I said. I grabbed a small chunk of the cookie dough and put it in my mouth. My eyes went wide in response to how great it tasted.

"Auntie Katelyn, this is amazing!" I exclaimed through my mouthful of cookie dough. I had a wide smile on my face once I finished eating the dough. This was something I'd never gotten to try before, and had had no idea how much I was missing out on. Auntie Katelyn was amazing! She always knew how to make us kids smile. I swear, she's got some sort of magic happy powers. She can take you from being in your most nervous and sad state to being happy and full of laughter.

The thought of the reaping was barely hiding in the back of my mind now, and I was able to push it away enough to ignore it.

"Okay, what's next?" I asked excitedly. I was ready to help, and I could tell that all this day was going to do was keep turning toward the positive.

That is, until I got home. Dad didn't know where I went, so I didn't know how he'd react when I came back. Hopefully everything would turn out okay.

[charade]

Yui’s innocence, the brightness of her smile. It was a breath of fresh air for Katelyn. It was home. It was family, however extended. To be thirteen again and find joy in the simplest things. To look at everything with wide eyes and a wider heart. She still did, she knew, but it wasn’t like it had been before. Her back had been up against the wall too many times for her not to tense up when things looked a certain way.

But now was not the time for that.

There were cookies that needed finishing and a child that needed attending to. “Now? Now we fill up all three of these trays with globs of dough,” she said, inclining her head at the tray and bowl of dough she’d slid down the counter only a few minutes ago. She showed Yui how to do it, patting the dough between her hands to make a rough sphere and then adding it to the tray, each at least two inches away from the next in the row. The tray she’d been working on when Yui came to the door was nearly full, so she finished it up and placed it the oven, before checking on Yui’s handiwork.

“Not bad, we’ll make a baker out of you yet!” she said with a smile. Yui’s presence had surprised her to no end, but she had told Kirito that the kids were welcome to stop by for treats whenever they wanted to. Her door was always open, much like her heart. Her thoughts turned to district one. Ky was almost old enough to be out of the reaping, but surely he liked cookies too? Perhaps one day she could help him bake something nice for Opal. Her birthday. Or mother’s day. Any day really.

Life had shown her that good things could still happen. They didn’t erase the bad, but they helped her move past it. Sure the quell was just around the corner and it would bring with it new challenges, new concerns. But the moments like this? The moments that felt like home? They would lift her up. Brick by brick they’d built a foundation until she learned to rise above it all and never fall again.

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