A prequel to; The Wedding That Took a De-Tour
CHAPTER ONE - NEW HOSTILITY
"Ouch!" I squirm around in the chair as Greasy Sae attempts to brush my hair.
"If you would stop acting like a five-year old for one minute, we might get somewhere." She tuts and I growl again, crossing my arms over my chest... exactly like a tantrum-throwing five-year old.
She gets through the last knot and sighs; relieved. She pulls a mirror out from the cupboard - where I had intended it to stay hidden - and shows me. "You want to braid it?" She says.
"Maybe another day." I scowl and take the blurry mirror back to the cupboard. Once safely out of sight, I told Sae she could leave if she wanted to. She doesn't have to spend the whole day trying to make me happy. No-one can accomplish that. Not even...
I usually spend the day staring at a wall or stopping Buttercup from eating away another piece of clothing. But today is different. There is new hostility in the air, God knows where from. I wonder up to a spare bedroom on the second floor and gaze out the window. The blood-red curtains are shut, leaving only a tiny crevice for me to peek through. Any more light will either blind or burn me.
I look upon Haymitch's house, then the rest of the empty houses along Victor's Village. What a waste of space. I turn my gaze to something more alive - the rest of District 12. It is a quiet day, but still more alive than Victor's Village. A few people bustle about, trying to cope with burdens galore. I hear a Capitol train come and rest in the station and I almost start to cry. It's just a train. But all the same - anything Capitol haunts me. The station gates open, and three or four figures tumble out. They'll probably pick up or drop off something then leave. No-one stays here by choice if they didn't come from here originally. Not even Capitol citizens want to visit 'The Girl On Fire's birth place.
The figures haul giant packages over their backs, except for one. One keeps walking, towards 12's civilization. I open the curtains a crack more, rub dust off the window, and squint.
No. It can't be. But it is.
I knew this would happen though - it had to happen some time.
Peeta is home.