There's a massive amount stories about Mrs. Everdeen that need to be written. So I just decided to write a little something about her recovery in District Four after the war is over.

I hope you enjoy, and as always, happy reading! :)


She hurts more than she ever has before.

Everything inside her is shattered. Her soul is nothing more than fragments that have broken time and time again. She is beyond repair this time.

She can't go back. The ash that settles across the place she once called home is just an excruciating reminder of the explosion that killed him. And now, the explosion that killed her.

She doesn't dare think their names. No. Too sharp is the pain that plagues those thoughts. She knows she should be there for her. She's shattered too. But deep down, she knows she doesn't need her. She needs the baker's boy, the only thing that understands her no matter how lost he is right now.

So she doesn't go back. She can't. So to avoid the reminders, she finds a new place to call home. At first it's not home. It's foreign and strange and smells like salt.

She buries her pain with her work. Fingers flying to save the lives of wounded, to compensate for the lives so close to her that she couldn't save. Always too late. So she makes sure she isn't anymore.

At first, she works in the burn unit. For a while, it helps. But then, like everything else, it starts to hurt. So instead, she works in the labor unit. Bringing new lives into the world helps her forget the lives that have been lost.

She hardly sleeps. She doesn't have nightmares. Just dreams. Dreams that they're alive and safe and here. Then she wakes up and realizes they're not.

Lately, the dreams have been so real. So real that her heart quickens when she sees a nurse with a long blonde braid. Or a doctor with his same grey eyes.

One day she can't take it anymore. She runs. It gives her a breath of life she hasn't had in years. It's been so long since she ran.

She makes it a routine. She gets stronger, despite her aging body. Running clears her mind.

She always sticks to a path. Always through town. Never steering away. But just once she does. She doesn't know where she's going until she's there, met with a sweet saltiness that is somehow stronger than it is everywhere else. And then she sees it.

The sea.

It's the first time she's ever seen the sea. Not even in a picture. It's so breathtaking she has to sit down on the damp sand to catch her breath. She digs her shaking fingers into the sand, burying them deep but never averting her stare at the never ending expanse of blue.

She watches in awe as waves pull from the sand and come back again. She can't stop watching it go back and forth. Over and over, washing away the pain.

Very slowly, she pulls her cold fingers from their home in the sand and writes his name.

Vernon.

The sight of his name alone brings her to tears. It's been so long since she's seen his name written out. So long since she's seen his face. Since she's heard his voice.

She cries for him. She's cried for him a million times but this time is different. This time she's finally letting him go.

Just as always, the wave comes back and pulls away his name. Along with her ache.

She tries it again. She drags her finger in the sand, spelling out her name.

Primrose. Seeing her name hurts worse. It hasn't been as long. Only months ago she held her in her arms. Kissed her forehead goodbye before she was shipped off to die.

She cries harder this time. It takes her longer to stop. But again, as the wave washes away her name, it washes away her misery.

She stays out at the sea for longer than she cares to know. Writing out the names of every lost person she's ever known.

As the sun sets behind the thick grey clouds, she breathes again. She feels better. Maybe not whole, but peaceful again.

With a final tear, which she quickly brushes away, she smiles at the sea and turns around. With careful steps, she goes back to her home. Because that's what this place is now. Home.

She spends her night writing letters. To friends in 13. To old friends in 12. As the sun begins to rise, to Peeta. Thanking him for everything he has done for her daughters. Wishing him a quick recovery. Slips a picture of Katniss and Primrose into the envelope. And finally, to Katniss. Promising her that things will be better. Promising to see her soon.

Then she smiles, because for the first time she's beginning to heal.