A/N: Hey readers. It's C.K. again. I seem to be having some commitment issues to my stories, so I present this little two-shot while I try to figure out what the heck to do. Enjoy!

It was a Sunday morning when she first felt the baby move.

She had been suspecting it for a while - it wasn't that she had the symptoms of pregnancy, nor any signs from the baby. It was just a feeling - indescribable. Like she was being weighed down. Like a hollow somewhere in her had finally been filled.

And it terrified her.

The already cracked glass cup that she had clutched in her hands clattered to the floor of her little house in Victor's Lane, another chip breaking off of it. She didn't bother to pick it up.

How could this have happened, she thought to herself, her mind going into a blind panic. She pressed her hand against her stomach - there was definitely something different.

But it was only one night - granted, a night full of anger, tears, and infidelity - but still just a night all the same.

A night with Gale Hawthorne.

She had been stupid. Selfish. She knew this, and she hated herself for it. Maybe this was fate's way of getting back at her. It knew she wasn't ready for a child - she had too many memories, too much fear. It was all a mistake, and she was extremely ashamed. What would she tell Peeta? Her mother? And Gale…

However, she couldn't help the deep blush that lit her cheeks when she thought back to that night.

Two months before…

Katniss was incredibly tired.

It had been a very long day. Peeta was gone on a business trip in District 1, meeting with other District Head's to discuss how the new government was going. Katniss herself had a pile of work to do too - mostly paperwork, nothing particularly special or interesting.

And she and Peeta had had The Argument again.

Katniss gave a heavy sigh, slumping over the stack of papers in front of her. She closed her eyes. Why did Peeta want children so badly? Couldn't he just be happy with her? He - the one person who knew her best - should know that Katniss wasn't ready for children. But even a small voice in the back of her head reasoned with Peeta. After all, she wasn't getting any younger, and they had been married for almost fifteen years.

But she couldn't. She didn't want to bring a child into this world. There was so much pain, so much anger still in it. She didn't want anyone to experience what she had gone through.

On top of the kitchen counter, an alarm clock began to beep, timed to signal when Katniss would have to leave if she wanted to catch a hover plane to District 2. The thought of having to go through more paperwork, and even more arguing (this time with her coworkers), and then to top it all off with a speech that was already supposed to be written, made her feel even more tired. She hastily ran a brush through her knotted hair, grabbed her pre-packed bags, and then began walking down to the designated Twelve landing pad.

She was the only one in the newly-recovering District Twelve that would be going to the Mockingjay Convention. Haymitch was originally going to accompany her to this esteemed "rally for freedom and fairness", but he had fallen ill about two days ago and still had not gotten better. He was being cared for - reluctantly, of course - by Greasy Sae. She knew he was in good hands, which relaxed her enough to go on her own.

The hoverplane was picking up people in accordance to their Districts, so there were only two other people in the plane, both from District Thirteen. She vaguely recognized them as soldiers in the rebellion. They acknowledged her with short nods, then went back to arguing about something or the other - taxes, she recognized vaguely. Not really a conversation she wanted to join.

She passed the time staring out the window, bidding a silent farewell to her home as it grew increasingly smaller as they flew higher into the sky. It pained her to be away from District Twelve, after everything that had happened to her outside of it. She felt safe there.

District Twelve, however, also brought back painful memories itself - ones of Prim, of Gale. They made her heart constrict painfully, and her breath quicken. She had never been a crier, everyone she met knew that, but thinking about both of them made the corners of her eyes sting with unshed tears.

The truth was, she missed Gale. She blamed herself for losing him - she had been too angry at the time when she had told him to leave, too full of pain from losing her only real love, Prim. It was all her fault that he was not part of her life anymore. But she was too afraid to ask him to come back to her, come back to Twelve. What if he rejected her? What if he hated her just as much as she had once hated him for telling him to leave? She knew he was in love with her at the time - and that she was probably in love with him, too - and she couldn't imagine how cutting those words must have been because of it.

But she had Peeta, she consoled herself. She had her mother, even if she was broken from all that had happened after the rebellion. And she had Haymitch, during the times he wasn't insulting her or drunk. That was enough.

Right?

The question gnawed at the edges of her brain. She tried to dismiss it. Yes, that is enough. I'm fine. But some part of her begged to differ. And it frightened her.

Over the time of an hour, they made five more stops, each bringing in a handful of people. All regarded her respectfully, but none tried to sit next to her. Perhaps they sensed that she needed to be alone.

After another hour of quiet chatting and a half-cooked meal served by the attendants, the hovercraft had finished all the stops and was landing at the final destination.

The houses of District Two were elegant, yet simple. Everything was in high taste, and it was easy to discern that they had once made fine items for the Capitol. People milled about the streets, and a small crowd was waiting to greet them at the landing pad. They all had their hands shielded over their eyes as the hovercraft came down in a graceful swoop, kicking up dust and making the wind blow around them.

Katniss got off hesitantly. It had been a long time since she had had to associate with large groups of people. She wondered, quiet nervously, if she could still manage to be the Mockingjay. Those days were long gone. And it had been hard, even when she still had a cause to fight for.

The people waiting for them all welcomed them jovially. She spotted Annie in the crowd, her son Finnick Jr. in tow. She had recently sent Katniss a letter telling her that she had decided to settle in Two. To get away from the memories, she had written.

Katniss went over all the faces, slightly growing happier each time she recognized a soldier, or nurse, or even a civilian. Finally, her eyes landed on the last person. A person that was staring back at her.

Her whole body froze, and her stomach tightened. A flash of fear - and a slight thrill - went through her. She took a deep breath, forcing herself to appear calm.

"Gale."

Okay, next part will be up soon. Hope you enjoyed! (And if you did PLEASE review) The faster you review, the more motivated I feel, and the faster I post the next part. Hint, hint.