We learn to keep busy again. Peeta bakes. I hunt. Haymitch drinks until the liquor runs out, and then raises geese until the next train arrives. Fortunately, the geese can take pretty good care of themselves. We're not alone. A few hundred others return because, whatever has happened, this is our home. With the mines closed, the plow the ashes into the earth and plant food, Machines from the Capitol break ground for a new factory where we will make medicines. Although no one seeds it, the Meadow turns green again.
Peeta and I grow back together. There are still moments when he clutches the back of a chair and hangs on until the flashbacks are over. I wake screaming from nightmares of mutts and lost children. But his arms are there to comfort me. And eventually his lips. On the night I feel that thing again, the hunger that overtook me on the beach, I know this would have happened anyway. That what I need to survive is not Gale's fire, kindled with rage and hatred. I have plenty of fire myself. What I need is the dandelion in the spring. The bright yellow that means rebirth instead of destruction. The promise that life can go on, no matter how bad our losses. That it can be good again. And only Peeta can give me that.
So after, when he whispers, "You love me. Real or not real?"
I tell him, "Real."
His arms close tighter around me, and his forehead pushes gently against mine. A tear runs from my tightly closed eye down my cheek, and my lips find his. We lay there, him protectively wrapped around me, silent. It's been long since I haven't felt so secure. Probably the last time was in the cave. My thoughts begin to run down the long road of my memories. Everything flashes: the day of my father's death. The days of hunting, alone. The day Peeta saved my life – my family's life – by giving me the bread. The day I met Gale in the woods. Chasing together. Talking. Trading at the Hob. Then, the day of the reaping. Prim's name being called, my volunteering, Peeta's name, the goodbyes. The Capitol: my prep' team, Cinna. The opening ceremony. The red-haired Avox girl. The interview. Peeta's. The night before the Games, on the roof. The launching room. The Arena. The days of being alone, of thinking Peeta had betrayed me. Rue. Rue's death. The mutts. The berries. The trip back home. Victor's Village. Gale's kiss. President Snow's visit, the smell of blood and roses. The Victory Tour: District 11, Rue's family, the man who whistled, the bullet. Peeta's anger against Haymitch and me. The smell of revolution in the Districts. The nights in the train. Peeta's public proposal. Plutarch Heavensbee and his mockingjay watch. Back home, Gale being whipped. Darius on the ground. Bonnie and Twill in the woods. The District 13 revelation. The announcement of the Quarter Quell. My despair. The Capitol again; the prep team, Cinna, the mockingjay dress for the interview, the other victors: Finnick, Mags. Beetee and Wiress. Johanna. Cinna being beaten in the launching room. The Games, again. The Arena. The force field, Finnick bringing Peeta back to life. Several days. The acid fog, Mags running into it. Wiress saying "tick, tock". The revelation: the Arena is a clock. The breads. Beetee's plan, the arrow with the wire, into the force field. The Arena exploding. The aircraft. Haymitch saying they couldn't take Peeta. Despair, again. Gale saying that District 12 had been destroyed. District 13; my mother and Prim. The ashes of District 12. President Coin, my agreement to be the Mockingjay, my conditions. Finnick and his rope, making knots. Beetee's special bow. The flop of the studio propo; District 2, the visit of the hospital, the bombing. Peeta on television, calling for a cease-fire. Peeta warning them of an attack, being tortured. The alarms; the bunker, the impacts. The rebels going to save Peeta and Annie. Peeta hijacked; his hatred for me, trying to kill me. District 2 and the Nut. Johanna in the hospital. Finnick and Annie's wedding. The training to take part in the war, along with Johanna. Peeta joining their unit at the last minute. Boggs death, the Holo. The lie about a secret mission to kill Snow. The members of the unit dying, one by one, on their way to the center of the Capitol. Cressida leading them to Tigris's shop. Then, the final assault. The exploding parachutes, the death of the children around the President's mansion. The fire. Prim. Prim's death. How I couldn't help blaming Gale. The visit to President Snow, the roses. Snow's execution – the arrow in President Coin's heart. The days of nothingness, in a room. Blur. Fog. The going back to District 12 with Peeta and Haymitch after I was acquitted. The months of recovering, that still aren't over, and that never will be. And now, here I am.
Peeta caresses my wet cheek.