District two looks just as I remember it. Lush green landscapes surrounded by the gentle breathing of mountains creating a valley nestled in its feet. They've recovered well since the war; the houses are small yet look well cared for and sturdily built. Unlike 12, it's more than just the citizens making sure that the economy bounces back. Clearly the new government has taken a key interest making sure that 2 is thriving. I think this should bother me but somehow it doesn't. Personally, I think 12 has always done better on their own. There are a lot of people disembarking the train with me so it takes a few moments to fight through them and work my way towards the waiting area. All around me people are embracing with smiles and hugs and jovially greeting their loved ones. I know no such greeting is waiting for me.

When I finally spot her she's standing with her back against a tall stone pillar, eyes down, fidgeting nervously with something in her hands I can't see. Her eyes dart up and immediately catch mine. I offer a small smile and gently push my way towards her.

"Katniss," she says, a hint of a smile tugging at her lips.

"Hi, Mom."

We stand awkwardly across from each other, neither knowing how to show affection very well. She makes the first move by reaching out and taking my hand in hers and as small as the gesture may seem, for us it is monumental.

"Come on," she says. "Let's get you out of here."

She leads me through the maze of the train station, her hand my guide through the throngs of people before we finally break through and out into the open air. It's clean and cool in my lungs, filled with the scent of mountains and pine. We walk steadily through the newly tiled streets, the silhouette of The Nut casting shadows on our shoes, through the cobbled streets to my mother's house. I feel like I should say something consoling to her, to give her a hug to stifle the grief of losing Prim, but she seems content on our silence so I allow it to be.

After a short walk she leads me to the door of a cute little townhome surrounded by others just like it. The short front walk is adorned with a small, colourful garden on either side and hanging from the front door is beautiful spring wreath laced with daisies and tulips.

"This is where you live?" I ask her. I am in awe of how well she seems to have done for herself.

She nods shyly and opens the front door to a quaint sitting room.

"This is amazing, Mom," I say, and she blushes in response.

"Have a seat, I'll make you a cup of tea." I sit on one of the pastel coloured sofas next to the empty fireplace and patiently wait. She's back a moment later with a steaming cup of tea and a plate of cookies and sits quietly next to me.

"So how have you been?" She asks me.

I smile as if this alone should be reassuring. "I'm surviving."

She pats my knee with her hand. "You always have Katniss."

"And you? Everything seems to be going really well for you here."

A genuine smile graces her face. It's a gesture that I haven't seen in years. "I'm happy Katniss. Really happy for the first time in a long time. And I miss you and Prim more than anything, but I'm learning to cope. Work certainly helps."

"Do you ever see anyone, you know, from back home?" I ask because I can't stand not knowing anymore.

My mother gives me a knowing look. She's aware that I'm talking about Gale. "Occasionally," she replies. "Hazelle and the kids live not too far from here. She opened a laundry business not long ago; it's doing quite well actually. The boys and Posy are all settling into school."

She pauses and I urge her to go on without asking.

"Gale is doing really well. He got a job for the Capitol working as a city engineer. Don't see him much, he's usually pretty busy."

I nod, unsure of what to say. So Gale had done well then. I suppose I should resent that fact that his life is turning out well when my sister's was snuffed out at thirteen, but all I feel is relief and gratefulness. However mad I may be at Gale, I still wish him well.

"What about you Katniss? Do you ever talk to Gale?"

I take a sip of my tea and shake my head.

"He said he tried calling you not too long ago," my mother says. I think my heart may actually stop. "You didn't answer."

I had no knowledge of Gale trying to get in contact with me and this new information brings on a whole ton of mixed emotions. "Did he say why?" I ask.

"No. To be honest Katniss I think he just wanted to hear your voice again."

I swallow, tears threatening to spill over my eyes but I force them down and take another sip.

"I saw her once." It comes out as a whisper.

Confusion knits itself in between my mother's eyes. "Who?"

"Prim."

Her eyes find mine with a look of fear and heartache. "Oh Katniss," she begins.

But I interrupt. "No Mom it's not like that. It was a dream. But she was so life-like, so real. I could feel the dip she made in the mattress beside me." My mother's hand entwines in my own. "She just laid there beside me all night, smiling with happiness only Prim could uphold, and she told me that her death wasn't Gale's fault." My mother's hand squeezes tighter against my fingers. "She said that if I loved her I'd stop pushing away the people that I needed. Coming from her lips, it seems like the most obvious thing in the world."

I have no idea where this sudden honestly has come from but it feels good, feels right, to be sharing this burden with my mother. It is so unlike me to throw my feelings into the wind with words, but I feel lighter now that I have.

After the dream about Prim a sudden realization had hit me. They bombs may have been Gale's design, but it wasn't as if I was innocent in this war. I had blindly slayed and killed whoever was in my path in those last moments in the centre of the Capitol. And weren't those people someone's sisters, mothers, brothers, uncles, cousins, daughters? Weren't they all belonging to someone too? In the end they were all just innocent victims of a war that wasn't their fault. Which made me as much to blame for Prim's death as Gale.

"Prim was about the most forgiving person I'd ever met," my mother says, snapping me out of my reverie. I nod. "Darling why don't you go see Gale? He doesn't live far from here you know."

I contemplate the idea. I'm not sure if I'm actually ready for this.

My mother gives me a moment to my thoughts before she interjects. "Please Katniss, if you won't do it for yourself, do it for Prim."

With a heavy sigh I nod. Anything for Prim.