Hey everyone, I wasn't going to upload this until tomorrow, but its for the same reason. This was my one-shot for Fandom Fights Tsunami.
I hope that all of you like it.
Enjoy.
*~KelsNicole~*
(I'm working on the last chapter for Effie & Haymitch, a lot of stuff has been happening and I'll start updating more again soon)
My eyes open and I reach out to feel Prim. A small smile forms on my lips when I touch her. Slowly I sit up and I get out of bed. Prim stirs when she feels me move and her eyes flutter open. She reaches out to me and I take her hand in mine, giving it a light squeeze. Seconds later my father walks over to us and the smile on his lips makes me feel like today is going to be a wonderful day. He sits down beside me on the bed and pulls me into a hug, he kisses the top of my head. I watch as Prim crawls over to us and my father hugs her. She smiles at him and I just stare at my father, hopeful that he's going to take me into the woods tonight.
"After you two get home and I get home from the mines...we can go into the woods," he says to me and I give a slight nod of my head. He kisses Prim on top of her head and gets up. "Time to get ready for school, you two don't want to be late. Your mother's made breakfast."
Quickly I get dressed and I turn to help Prim get dressed. She smiles at me as I brush her hair out, her beautiful long blonde hair. My mother makes sure that we eat and we leave to school. Prim has a good grip on my hand as she leads me towards the school. When we reach the school and its time for us to separate she turns around and hugs me. I smile at her as she runs off. Shaking my head I walk into the school and I walk to my first class, but my minds not on here, its on the woods. Everyone else seems to be paying attention, but I just can't. Looking around I notice that Peeta Mellark is staring at me and when our eyes lock, he looks away. I just shrug it off.
I walk into the lunch room and sit down. My mind is still on the woods, but the sirens snapped me into reality. Without taking a second to think about it I stand up and run to Prim's classroom. She sits there with her hands folded on her desk, she's sitting up straight and her face is pale. Never did I think that I'd have to come and collect Prim like I promised that I would if the sirens sounded-or at least I hoped. Her eyes flicker over to me and she jumps out of her seat. As soon as she reaches me, her hand grabs my coat sleeve and we run off to the mines. People are standing around, waiting for news, hoping that their loved one hasn't died. My heart is racing as we find our mother gripping onto the rope that they put up to keep everyone back.
My mothers eyes stay on the mines and I see the desperation in her eyes, the look of hope in her eyes. Our eyes stay on the elevators screeching up and down, bringing up survivors. The cries of relief will always ring in my ears and I'll never forget it. He has to be alive, my father has to be alive. I stare at the black smoke and I feel the hope slowly leaving me as my father doesn't appear. No, he has to be alive...he just has to be. The cold air goes right through me and a light snow begins to fall. Fewer people are being brought up.
Feeling desperate to do something I kneel down on the ground and press my hand into the cinders, only wishing that I could pull my father out of the mines. Shaking my head I look up at the sky, its getting darker and my father still isn't up here with us. There's still hope though, I have to hold onto that hope. A tear escapes from my eye when I look up and see my mother. My mother's still gripping onto the rope and I see the tears in her eyes, just waiting to pour out. Prim's standing beside me and I quickly brush the tear away. Taking a deep breath I push back the tears, knowing that I have to be strong for my mother and Prim.
"Katniss, daddy's going to come up," Prim whispers to me and I look up at her. She sits down beside me and I feel a blanket being wrapped around my shoulders. I look over at my sister, who still has the most hope out of any of us. My eyes stay on her as she lays back into me. I hold my sister tightly, hoping that she's right. "Will you wake me when he's here?"
The tears are threatening to pour over, but I just nod my head. How am I supposed to tell my sister that the chances are low that our father is going to come out alive? I look around at the other families around us. My eyes stop on a boy who looks a little older then me, he has dark hair and his gray eyes stay on the mines. Shaking my head I look down at Prim and brush the hair out of her face. A woman stops and hands me a cup of something hot. I take it, but I don't drink it. All that I can do is stare at the mines and keep hoping, but he's not out yet. Taking a deep breath I try to think of something that will help me feel closer to my father, only one thing comes to mind. The words flow out into my mind like I've been singing them for forever, but I haven't sang them in forever, that doesn't mean that I haven't thought about them:
Are you, are you
Coming to the tree
Where they strung up a man they say murdered three.
Strange things did happen here
No stranger would it be
If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree.
I watch the sun starting to rise and that's when the mine captain walks over to us, with a sad expression on his face. He walks over to my mother and I don't have to listen to him to hear what he's saying. The tears are threatening to spill out over my eyes, to show my weakness. Shaking my head I push them back and look down at my little sister sleeping. She's oblivious to the fact that our father is dead. My mother turns to me and I see the blank look in her eyes. Gently I wake Prim up and she stares at me with wide blue eyes, she knows when she sees our mother. Our mother starts to walk away, back towards home and we follow her. From time to time I look over at Prim and I see the tears rolling down her cheeks. When we get home I tuck Prim into bed and make sure that my mother's laying down. I can't sleep though, so I go to the woods. Our place...
As soon as I go under the fence I can tell that it feels different. There's something different about it without my father. I sit down holding onto my bow and arrows, my father made them. Now I allow the tears to pour out of my eyes and I don't will them to stop. Here I don't care, this is our place...or at least it was. Taking a deep breath I take off where I left off at the mines, but for the first time in years I sing them outloud.
"Are you, are you
Coming to the tree
Where the dead man called out for his love to flee.
Strange things did happen here
No stranger would it be
If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree."
More tears fall down my cheeks and I take a deep breath. The song brings back too many memories, but the pain helps in some ways. It makes me feel closer to my father, it makes it all more real. Being in the woods and singing this song makes me feel like a part of my father is still with me.
"Are you, are you
Coming to the tree
Where I told you to run, so we'd both be free.
Strange things did happen here
No stranger would it be
If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree"
Years Later (After Rebellion):
Staring at the fence I try to force myself to come to terms with everything. Every day when I think about my father and...Prim, it kills me to think about them. My little sister, the way that she was saying my name before-
"Prim...why?" I let out a sob and I just shake my head. Why did I have to loose everyone? I lost my father, my mother, Gale and Prim. The only people that I have left are Haymitch, Greasy Sae and Peeta. Not that they don't mean anything to me, but I would give anything to have my sister and father back. My father's death killed a part of me and Prim's killed another part, both of them deep inside of me and I know that I'll never get either of those pieces back. "I did everything that I could to save you-"
"It's okay Katniss," her voice is soft and angelic. She sits down beside me on the ground and I stare at her in shock. Her long shimmering blonde hair looks even more beautiful in the sunlight. "You did everything that you could to save me."
"You're not real. You're not real," I sob as I start to rock back and forth. My eyes close and when I re-open them I look beside me and the figure is gone. "Katniss...you're insane. You've lost your mind..."
I stare down at my bow and arrow, my heart is racing. My mind replays everything, the hot tears race down my cheeks. Shaking my head I try to not think about it, but I can't help it. After the day that my father died my life changed and I still miss my father. Everyday that passes I still think about him, every time that I pick up a bow and arrow I think about him. My mind goes to Primrose, my little duck. She died too young and she didn't even really have a chance to live. I shake my head as my heart begins to ache, my little sister is dead and gone...there was nothing that I could do to save her that time. I always swore that I would protect her and I failed her. Taking a deep breath I stand up and tell myself to be strong...no more crying. Carefully I hide my bow and arrows, and walk back to the fence. Peeta's waiting there for me and he smiles a small smile at me when I reach him. His arms wrap around me and he kisses me on my forehead.
"Are you okay?" He whispers against my skin and I let out a light sigh. "Katniss?"
I shake my head and look up at him. "No, but I will be."
We walk off together and I stop to look back at the woods, with the last verse of The Hanging Tree echoing through my head. I touch my stomach, where our little baby is growing. Taking a deep breath I decide to share the last verse of the song with my unborn child, who I'm afraid to carry.
"Are you, are you
Coming to the tree
Wear a necklace of rope, side by side with me.
Strange things did happen here
No stranger would it be
If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree."
In loving memory of my dad, September 1, 2003.
Thank you for reading and please leave a review.