Katniss said to Buttercup, "Come on, you scrawny old cat." Buttercup hissed. "We're going to visit Prim."
A seven-year-old girl with blue eyes and dark hair like Katniss's tugged at her mother's sleeve. "Mommy!" she said. "Don't be mean to Buttercup." Katniss sighed. "Buttercup didn't do anything bad, Mommy." She started to wrap her arms around her mother's waist, but decided not to and reached towards Buttercup instead.
"Elli Primrose Mellark…!" Katniss exclaimed. "If he doesn't want to go, then we'll leave him." Elli, despite her mother's words, picked up Buttercup anyway. "Elli! Where's your brother?" Elli shrugged.
Suddenly, Peeta appeared and placed his hand on her shoulder. "Andy's got a fever," Peeta said gravely. "He'll have to stay."
Katniss rolled her eyes. "Argh. Of all times, why now?" she asked, irritated. "And who's going to take care of him while we're gone?"
"I will—!" Elli volunteered, but Peeta interrupted her.
"No offense, Elli, but do you really think you can take care of yourselves?" Peeta asked her gently. "You're only seven, and… well, the only time we'd let you stay here without us is when Haymitch could baby sit. But he can't right now; he's busy." By 'busy', of course Peeta meant drunk.
"But I'm a big girl, Daddy," Elli replied. "I could take care of myself, and Andy, too." Peeta nodded; now he knew which child inherited Katniss's defiance.
"Yes, I know you're a big girl, but you're still our baby," Peeta said, then paused. "Hmm… say, Elli, do you know who Prim is?"
"No," Elli said. She only knew two things about Primrose Everdeen: that she was named after her and that Primrose was her mother's little sister. Once, Elli had asked Katniss about Prim. Katniss's face had turned grave, and she refused to say anything other than the two mentioned above.
"You want to know who she is, right?" Peeta asked. Katniss stared at Elli, waiting for her answer. Finally, Elli nodded. "Katniss?"
Peeta looked at Katniss for approval. Katniss glared back. They continued this for a minute or two, as if having a silent argument. Finally, Katniss nodded. "Your mother will tell you about her. I'll stay here with Andy. But you have to go with Mommy to visit Prim, okay?"
"Okay," Elli said. She carefully put down Buttercup.
"Be a good girl for your mommy," Peeta told her.
"Okay," Elli said. She hugged Peeta. "I love you, Daddy."
"I love you too, sweetheart," Peeta replied. "Be careful. Katniss, could you stop by the hospital and buy some medicine?"
"Sure," Katniss said. She kissed Peeta's cheek. "Bye, Peeta."
Once they stepped outside, Katniss said to Elli, "First, we have to get flowers. Do you think we should buy them from the florist? Or do you think we should pick them?" Elli pondered this for a moment, and pointed to the primroses planted by Peeta all those years ago.
"I think we should pick them," Elli said. Katniss nodded. Elli reached towards the primroses, but Katniss stopped her.
"There are thorns there, Elli," Katniss said. "I'll do it." Elli did not want to argue anymore, plus she did not want to get hurt. She let her mother pluck the primroses from the ground. "There." She handed the bouquet to Elli. "Let's go."
They reached the Meadow. Elli gazed at her surroundings. The sunlight painted streaks of yellow on the leaves of the trees. Flowers of different colors made a rainbow on the ground. Elli was amazed; she had never seen anything like this before.
Of course, Elli had been to the Meadow before, but the Meadow never ceased to amaze her.
"Hi, Prim," Katniss said, interrupting Elli from her reverie. "How are you?" Katniss's voice was trembling. "We brought you some flowers." Elli silently handed the primroses to her mother. Katniss started lining her grave with the flowers. "There," she said once she finished.
"Hey, Aunt Prim," Elli said.
They stood there for a few minutes, not saying anything. Katniss bowed her head. Elli tried her hardest to be silent and not break the silence, even though it was an awkward one.
Finally, Katniss put her hand on Elli's shoulder and said, "Let's go, El."
They were walking away when Katniss felt Elli's grip tighten. "What is it?" Katniss asked.
"Daddy said you'll tell me about Aunt Prim," Elli replied. Katniss inhaled, and Elli could see that she was fighting back tears. "But, if you don't want to talk about it, Mommy, it's okay."
"No," Katniss said. "I'll tell you. You deserve to know."
"As I told you before, Prim was my sister. She was sweet and kind." Katniss stopped and looked straight into Elli's blue eyes. "Elli, did you know… that your eyes came from Prim?" Elli was surprised; she always thought that her eyes came from Peeta.
"No," Elli said. "I always thought that they came from Daddy."
Katniss nodded, as if she understood. They headed in the direction of the hospital. "She was only thirteen when she… passed away." Katniss's voice shook. "She was a paramedic, actually. She was helping someone… and then, that was it. The bomb created by my friends, Gale and Beetee, hit her, and she…"
"I'm sorry, Mommy," Elli replied. "I shouldn't have asked if it would just make you sad."
"No," Katniss said faintly. "You need to know, Elli."
They were outside the hospital already. Katniss pushed the glass door open and boldly walked to the counter, with Elli shyly tagging along. Elli thought she heard hushed voices saying, 'it's the Mockingjay!' But whether Katniss heard them or not, she did not show it. "My son's got a fever," she told the receptionist.
"Okay," the receptionist said, taking out a notepad. "Is he sick? Does he have a cold? Or perhaps a cough?"
Katniss paused, and finally said, "Both. He started having a cold three days ago, and started coughing yesterday." The receptionist handed her a bottle labeled 'Medicine'.
Suddenly, Katniss felt a bump on her side. "Hey! Watch where you're going," she cried. She turned her head to face her attacker. Her 'attacker' was a man, who was carrying a stack of papers so high that Elli couldn't see his face. The man stumbled, and murmured his apologies.
"Sorry, sorry—!" he muttered. "Wait." That voice sounds familiar, the man thought. Elli saw an olive face peek out from behind the papers. Katniss stood there, watching him. "Katniss?" Katniss gasped.
"Gale?" Katniss exclaimed.
"K-Katniss." The man, Gale, seemed to regain his bearings. "Hi." Gale gave the stack of papers to the receptionist.
"Hey," Katniss said. "What are you doing here?" Katniss nudged Elli and whispered, "That's Gale, my old… friend. The man who…"
Elli's eyes widened, and she whispered back, "Really?"
"Yes."
"W-What are you two whispering about?" Gale said, trying not to sound demanding. "And who's this?"
Elli summoned up all her courage, and tried to remember all the things her teachers taught her about respect. Don't stammer—you'll make the person you're talking to nervous too. Say please and thank you. Introduce yourself in a proper manner, no matter how many rumors you have heard about this person.
"My name is Elli Primrose Mellark," Elli said calmly, trying to remember what she had memorized. "I'm seven years old. I am the daughter of Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark."
"Mellark, you say?" Gale said, trying to sound nonchalant, but it was obvious that the name 'Mellark' seemed to have stirred up some horrible feeling or memory inside of him.
"Yes," Elli said.
"A pleasure to meet you. Gale Hawthorne… your mother's friend," Gale said stiffly as he held out his hand. He turned to Katniss. "What brings you here?"
The tension was rising. Katniss couldn't speak; she hadn't anticipated this. Elli jumped to her rescue.
"We were visiting Aunt Prim. My brother's sick, so… we came to get some medicine along the way," Elli answered.
"I see." Gale was turning away. "I guess I'll be seeing you."
"Bye," Katniss said.
"Wait!" Elli said, remembering one more thing her teachers told her about respect. If you know this person, invite him/her to your house. "Mr. Hawthorne. You two need to catch up some more." If they were friends, as Gale had said, then Elli supposed they wouldn't mind. "Would you like to… you know, come to our house and hang out?"
"Uh, sure," Gale replied. He turned to Katniss. "Seeing as it is my break… I'll go… as a friend." Katniss relaxed a little.
"Hey, Katniss, could I use the restroom?" Gale asked. Katniss nodded, and pointed at the door to their left. Gale went there, opened the door, and stepped inside.
Just then, Katniss heard Peeta climbing down the stairs. "Katniss," Peeta said, surprised. "Was that… who I thought it was?"
"It was Gale," Katniss replied. She bit her lip. "Elli invited him here when we bumped into him at the hospital."
After a one minute silence, Peeta asked, "Really?" Katniss nodded. "Alright. Whatever you say." And he started kissing her.
All of a sudden, Katniss heard the door open, and then, she heard a gasp. But it was too late. Gale had seen them.
"Uh, I guess I'll be going," Gale said.
"Bye, Gale," Peeta said, pausing after thirty seconds of kissing. Katniss started laughing hysterically, and Peeta joined her. "His reaction was priceless."
"I know," Katniss said.
"I love you, Katniss," Peeta said, pulling her in for another kiss.
"Love you too, Peeta."