Disclaimer: I don't own The Hunger Games, I don't own the characters, I don't own the setting, I don't own anything really other than my ideas and imagination.
Author's Note: Okay so this is my first Galeniss fanfic set after the events of Mockingjay and I'm pro-Galeniss, and Gale is my favourite character, hence the constant mention of him and his relationship with Katniss. And I don't know if this is going to be a thing and if I'm going to keep writing this, because I suddenly felt like wanting to write, but if this gets enough interest, I guess I'll keep writing. Not the world's best writer so go easy on me and reviews are always welcome and stuff c: Future chapters will most likely be longer.
"RUN, PRIM." I manage to choke out before the bombs hit the ground. I'm too late. I make my way through the masses of bodies on the ground, not paying attention to the flames surrounding me that threaten to engulf me. I note the irony. I go to where I last saw Prim last and see her lying sprawled on the ground, her uniform untucked at the back. Swallowing the sobs that are about to escape me, I turn over her body.
I scream as I see Gale's face staring up at me, eyes lifeless. I shake him, begging him to wake up. "Gale, oh Gale, I'm so sorry." By now, tears are streaming down my face. I hug him and will the flames to come closer, to swallow me whole.
Katniss. I jerk my head up when I hear my name. Katnissssss. Frantically, I look around, searching for any mutts who are programmed to kill me. One more time I hear my name being whispered, this time from below me. I look uncertainly at Gale, hoping that it was him who has been whispering my name this whole time, praying that it was him. His eyes fly open and he stares at me, eyes full of hatred. He smiles and bares his fangs. I jump backwards screaming, and back away. Gale gets up and faces me on all fours, ready to pounce. I glance to the both sides, not wanting to keep my eyes off Gale for too long. From the corner of my eye I see other bodies raising and assuming the same pose Gale is holding. I'm surrounded.
I now see Prim, her hungry eyes focused on me. Peeta. Rue. The avox girl. Closing in on me. Slowly, leaving with me no place to go. Suddenly they attack.
I wake up thrashing and screaming only to be calmed by Peeta's whispers of assurance. Peeta. I jerk away at his touch, flashes of my nightmare coming back to me.
"It's okay, Katniss. I'm here. It was just a dream." He coaxes me until I'm back to normal and I make my way to his arms. We stay like that for thirty minutes..one hour...four hours? I'm not sure, but I'm not complaining. It's calming and I enjoy the silence. It's not the same comfortable silence I had with Gale, but it's calming nonetheless.
Gale. I can't help but feel a pang of longing whenever I think of him. My best friend. My hunting partner. My better half. I try to shake the thoughts out of my head. I tell myself that it's no use thinking about him, how he's in District 2, not thinking about me. It's no use. No matter what I tell myself, I can't help missing the boy with the snares.
The sadness in my eyes must be blatant for Peeta nudges me cautiously and asks me what's wrong. I put on a smile and whisper "nothing" but before he can reply, I slip out of bed and put on my hunting gear. I retrieve my bow from the hall and make my way to the woods. I enter at my usual place but skirt away from my meeting place with Gale. I'm not ready to face the memories yet but the pain is still there. I stumble blindly through the woods until I reach the lake. There, I sit quietly on a rock and enjoy the view.
Eventually they come. The memories. Unforuantely they're not the pleasant ones. Slowly, the events of the previous year come back to me. Prim dying. Killing Coin. Snow dying. Going back to District 12 alone. Finding out that my mother wouldn't be coming back. Not leaving the kitchen for a long period of time. Waking up from a nightmare to find Peeta planting primroses outside. Finding Buttercup. Telling him of Prim's death. Coming back to life. Creating a book of all the people I know who I've lost. Growing back together with Peeta. Waking up from nightmares only to find his arms around me to comfort me. The same routine everyday.
It's only then when I realise how alone I am, how unfamiliar the woods seem to me now. It was never like that. Over the years I had become accustomed to the woods, to the animals, to the sounds it produced. Now I feel lost, not at home in a place that I was considered home.
Home is a person, not a place.
The line repeats itself in my mind.
Home is a person, not a place. Meeting Gale for the first time, when he snuck up behind me as I was admiring his snares. Home is a person, not a place. That one Sunday morning me and him were at our usual place before the reaping. Home is a person, not a place. Gale sending me off after the reaping. His unfinished sentence. Home is a person, not a place. Talking about running away with him. Home is a person, not a place. Kissing Gale. Fighting alongside Gale. Breaking the rules with Gale.
The memories I had tried so hard to forget come back to me and overwhelm me. I stand up, dizzy and weak. I make my way out of the woods quickly and escape back to District 12. I don't go back to Victor's Village right away. I walk around District 12 aimlessly until I'm sure that I'm okay. Everywhere I see rubbles of what once used to be my home but they're all gone now. President Snow made sure of that.
It's evening when I get back. Peeta surprises me with cheese buns. We're sitting around the table, devouring the buns, when the phone rings. I ignore it, not wanting to stop eating my cheese buns, so Peeta picks it up. I observe him as I eat.
"Hello?" His face lights up. Probably someone familiar.
"You...want us?" Smile fades. I sit upright, now interested.
"One second, I'll go get her." Uncertainty. He looks at me and beckons me over to the telephone.
"Hello?" I say. I hear Plutarch on the other end of the phone and I'm unsure how to react. He explains to me what he wants and I stand there, motionless and speechless for a while. It's only when Peeta takes the phone out of my head and assures Plutarch that we'll be ready when I come back to my senses.
I abandon my cheese buns and run to my room, closing the door behind me. Sinking to the ground, I think about Plutarch's request. I'm to be the Mockingjay again. In District 2. Where they want to film Peeta, I, and other people I asssume, as a reminder to the rest of the districts of the hardships we faced and how important it is for us to stick together as we build ourselves up from the ashes. In District 2. Where Gale is.