FRIDAY

When Effie stepped off the train she immediately saw them. Squealing she ran to them, her arms automatically wrapping around two of her favorite people in the world.

"Let me look at you," she said, pushing them back, and she stared at Katniss Everdeen. She still wore her signature braid, its color still rivaling the darkest of chocolates. Her eyes were clearer, but still haunted, and there were circles under them.

She still wasn't sleeping well.

Still, her normal frown was for once in a sincere smile, and it made Effie happier than ever to see it.

Peeta Mellark still looked as perfect as he ever had, with his golden locks and gorgeous blue eyes. He was stronger than ever, his chest square, and Effie realized she was looking at a grown man, though he still had a baby face. His lashes were still better than any woman's that was for sure.

She smiled at them fondly. "You two are all grown up," she said.

"Yah, well that happens," said Peeta with a smirk. She rolled her eyes and hugged them again. "We almost didn't recognize you. I was expecting a pink wig."

"Or a gold Mockingjay wig," Katniss said cheekily.

Effie waved those words away. "Don't be silly. I haven't worn a wig in years."

"The natural look suits you," Peeta said kindly. She wore her real hair, its golden locks competing with the sun's rays. She had bright blue eyes that had lost some of their vacancy, and were shining brightly at her two Tributes. She had on minimal makeup, just enough to hide the bags under her eyes from lack of sleep. But other than that, she was still pretty, nearly as gorgeous as a Porcelain doll.

"I've missed you all so much," Effie told them honestly, hugging them again, and then her eyes landed on him, and her heart stopped.

She wasn't expecting him.

He looked… good. Gray eyes crystal clear. Not at all clouded with drink. They were guarded, though, as if he wasn't quite sure how to look at her.

Peeta must have felt her stiffen because he moved aside, and she swallowed the harsh breath that wanted to escape. "Hello, Haymitch," she said softly.

"Princess," responded Haymitch, and he kept his voice completely neutral. Whether he was talking to friend of foe, she didn't know.

"Come on, let's get you home," Peeta interrupted, and Effie suddenly remembered their existence.

Haymitch bent down and grabbed her bag, and the four of them started walking.

"You can walk in those skyscrapers, right?" asked Haymitch, and Effie shot him a look.

It was such a natural exchange that she felt her heart start to beat again.

"I can't tell you how excited I was to get an invitation," she told Katniss and Peeta. "It's truly an honor."

"Well of course we'd invite you, Effie." Peeta looked at her expectantly. "If anyone deserved to witness our toasting, it's you."

"12 looks so different," commented Effie as she took in the sight of the rebuilt town as they made their way to Victor's Village.

"Yah, a lot's changed in five years," Katniss said.

Five years.

Had it really been that long?

They made their way farther along, and it didn't take Effie long to feel the stares from the people they passed. She felt her back go up.

"People still hate me," she said matter-of-factly.

Peeta glanced at her. "Not a lot people know what you did for the Rebellion," said Peeta softly. "They don't know about your sacrifices, or what you lost."

"And the ones that do know," Katniss chimed in, "don't seem to care." Her countenance darkened significantly.

"I don't blame them for hating me," said Effie.

Katniss looked at her, scowling. "You paid for your mistakes, Effie. Haymitch told us everything, and what he didn't tell us, we learned from your trial."

"But my trial wasn't broadcasted live like yours, Katniss. A lot of people don't know the facts."

"Well they should learn them."

"Would you have?" asked Effie softly. "If you didn't know me, or what I'd done, would you really be saying these things?"

"I'd want to know anybody who had the courage to stand up to Snow, and shake their hand. Anybody who helped bring that man down, and anyone like him, is no enemy of mine."

"Even if I'd sentenced Tributes to die every year for twenty years?"

"People saw you at the Quarter Quell," Peeta said. "All of Panem saw you. People know how you felt, and they've purposely chosen to ignore it."

Effie turned to Haymitch. "That's why you're here. You're still playing Mentor." Protecting. Whether Katniss and Peeta, or Effie as well, she didn't know.

He gently, ever so gently, placed his hand on the small of her back. "As long as you're with me, or Katniss and Peeta, nobody would dare touch you," he told her quietly, and she could hear the suppressed rage in his voice.

"I didn't realize my being here would be such a nuisance."

"It's not," Katniss said harshly. "You belong here. You're an intricate part of this team."

Effie felt herself smiling. "Thank you, Katniss."

By this time they had reached Victor's Village. It was lived in now. Most of the houses were filled with families, several generations' worth, as the houses were so big. People waved to Katniss and Peeta and Haymitch as they passed.

"You'll be staying with us," Peeta told Effie. Then he turned to Haymitch. "Dinner is in about an hour."

"I'll be there," said Haymitch.

He handed Peeta Effie's bag and started to keep walking, but Effie reached out and touched his shoulder. He turned.

She looked him over and then her Capitol blue eyes met his stormy gray ones. "I expect you dressed for the occasion.

He scowled. "You got a problem with my outfit, Trinket?"

"I'd hardly call a pair of sweats and a crew neck an outfit, Haymitch."

"You just got here, woman."

"Right, and it'd be best not to argue. I'm here all weekend, so Lord knows we'll have our share of disagreements. Do you really want to start so early?"

He stared at her for several moments, and then the corners of his mouth turned up. "Okay. You win round one."

"Darling, I win them all."

"Not a chance in hell, Princess."

And with that he was gone.

He showed up to dinner, dressed, and more handsome than ever, and Effie felt the familiar butterflies wing their way up and down her stomach.

She tried very hard not stare.

Peeta made some of Effie's favorites, and she had hardly tasted anything better.

Perfect Peeta.

Unless he was asking her questions.

"So how's life in the Capitol?" Peeta asked, and Effie felt her stomach lurch.

"Unbelievably lonely," responded Effie without thinking, and they all stared at her. "It is. I mean it was difficult before, being around the people I was around, but I had to keep up appearances, didn't I? I had to go to the lunches or the parties and show my face. Nowadays I wouldn't be caught there. Not to mention a lot of my friends now know who's side I was on and…" Effie touched her hair, absentmindedly, "Well, they're not really all too happy with me. Sometimes I'll see Octavia, Flavius, and Venia but… oftentimes it's too painful." She took a deep breath. "Not a day goes by that I don't miss Cinna," finished Effie softly.

After a short bout of silence Katniss reached across the table, grabbing Effie's hand. "Me too," the olive-skinned girl said quietly, squeezing Effie's hand.

Effie forced a smile and spooned some soup.

"You could always leave," said Peeta much too casually.

"And go where?" Effie asked immediately.

"Well there's plenty of room in 12." She saw Haymitch jerk out of the corner of her eye but ignored it. "There's a house vacant a few doors down, actually."

"And what would I do? I'm not like you three. I have to do something, anything really, to keep myself occupied, because if I don't I'll remember everything." She felt the tears coming but pushed them back. Her hands found their way to her neck, then her hair. "I work myself passed the point of exhaustion every single day, so that by the time I get home I can just sleep, hopefully without nightmares."

"Why don't you say any of this in your letters?" asked Peeta concerned.

"What right do I have to complain after what you all went through?."

"Effie you were tortured. Not three doors down from Peeta," Katniss snapped. "Who the hell would better understand than any of us sitting at this table? I thought we were a team."

Effie sighed. "You two sound like Dr. Aurelius. He keeps telling me to tell you all, but I just can't see myself burdening you. You're healing. Who am I to infringe on that?"

"So you just… what, suffer alone?" She heard the anger in his voice as he asked the question.

With a pounding heart she turned to Haymitch. "Yes. And I deserve to."

At her words he got up, without saying a word, and left, slamming the door behind him.

She waited until Katniss and Peeta had gone to bed to finally allow the tears to fall.

After trying unsuccessfully to fall asleep Effie got up and made her way to her window.

She saw that if she looked to the right she could see into Haymitch's backyard. He was out there, messing with some kind of animal. It looked like a bird.

She turned and immediately grabbed her robe and put on her slippers, then made her way down the stairs and out the door, making her way across to Haymitch's.

There was a light on inside, and Effie could tell that the house had been fixed up sometime in the past five years. It certainly looked better than it had whenever she'd made her way here for the Reaping.

Taking a deep breath she knocked softly on the door. When he didn't answer she remembered that she had seen him in his backyard. She opened the door and walked in and at the same time he walked through the backdoor.

They both stopped when they saw each other.

"I knocked," she said after several moments of silent staring.

He didn't comment for a few more moments. Just stared. Then, finally, "What are you doin' up?"

Effie shrugged daintily. "Couldn't sleep." Haymitch kept staring. "You still don't sleep at night?"

"Some things never change, Princess," he commented, and he finally started moving, heading towards the kitchen sink.

"Would you like company?"

He didn't immediately respond as he turned and looked at her. "Not particularly." She felt her heart stop. "Yours? I can probably suck it up."

She breathed.

Effie took this as her cue to look around, noting that his place was clean. Not exactly tidy, but nothing at all like what she was used to.

No bottles.

No stench.

No nothing, really.

"How long have you been sober?" asked Effie.

He finished washing his hands and dried them before turning around and answering her. "Three years. It would have been five but I had a couple of relapses along the way."

"The memorial in 11."

"Yah. That shit hurt."

"I thought I'd see you in the Capitol when they honored you."

"I thought I'd see you in 12 when they honored Katniss and Peeta."

Effie rubbed her neck. "I wasn't allowed to travel then," she said.

"And Katniss and Peeta weren't ready to go back to the Capitol yet," said Haymitch.

Silence.

"You want somethin' to drink?"

"Warm tea? Or is that asking too much?"

He turned and started rummaging around in his cupboards. "The boy drinks it after a particularly bad episode."

"He still has them?"

"He will for the rest of his life."

"Like nightmares," she whispered, a faraway look in her eyes.

He didn't comment.

She sat down at his table and they stayed silent until she thanked him for the cup of tea. She blew on it for a few moments and then took a soft sip.

She smiled. "Green tea."

"It's your favorite, right? Because you hate lemon."

"Yes."

She didn't know how he knew, because they'd never had a single conversation about her tea preferences, but it made her heartbeat speed up to know that he did.

"I miss you, Haymitch," she finally blurted out.

"Not enough to come here, though," was his response, his voice again neutral, his eyes again guarded.

"Do you hate me?" she asked quietly, because that tone was worse than him being cold to her.

He took a long time to respond. So long that she thought he wouldn't. Then, "No. But I think it'd be easier if I did."

Effie sat there, fiddling with her hair.

A weird noise made her jump.

"Relax. It's just one of my geese."

She looked at him as if he had three heads. "Geese?"

He smiled. "Yah. Come by tomorrow I'll introduce you. I've got one for each of you, and then some."

Effie felt her back go up. "I think I'm offended."

"Don't worry, there's a Haymitch one too, if it makes you feel better."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "I guess we'll see in the morning." She stood up and made her way to the door. "Thank you for the tea, Haymitch."

"Anytime, Princess," responded Haymitch, staying seated.

"Goodnight."

"Night."

She closed his door softly, a quiet smile on her lips.