I stand inside the doorway, staring down the hallway. Things will get better? Really? How is that suppose to help me? I march down the hallway into the living room and throw myself on to the sofa. Buttercup is asleep in his basket across the room, purring. I look at the wall. Peeta's words replay in my head. Things will get better… Things will get better.

The memories of the pain and suffering I've endured play in my thoughts. How are they going to get better? Prim is dead. Finnick is dead. Gale is gone. My mother is gone. I'm stuck here with Haymitch, who is drunk all the time. I have nightmares every night. Peeta was hijacked and now barely speaks to me... They can't get much worse.

I continue to sit there staring at the wall, my mind wandering. I think about my life before Snow and Coin's death, before the uprising, before becoming the Mockingjay, before the Hunger Games, before the reaping. My life has changed so much. That morning in the woods with Gale before Prim's name was called seems as if it was a lifetime ago. I think about Gale. I miss him. I know it was his and Beetee's idea for those bombs that killed Prim, but was it really his fault?

The inner monolog makes my head start to ache. I turn and lie down on the couch and watch Buttercup's chest move up and down as he sleeps, concentrating on it until I drift off to sleep.

I awake with a start, Buttercup is yowling from the kitchen. I stand up slowly, stretching my muscles as I go. "I'm coming…" I open the back door and Buttercup scurries down the steps and into the tall grass behind the house.

I shut the door and walk back through the kitchen, unsure what I should do now that I've spent most of the day sleeping. I pour myself a glass of water and wander into the living room again, this time looking out the front window.

The sun is hanging low; the sky is beginning to color beautiful shades of golden orange. My eyes wander back towards the earth and I notice Peeta standing in the middle of an overturned plot of land next to his house, dropping handfuls of something on the ground as he walks down a row of overturned dirt.

I stand in the window watching him as he continues dropping the seeds into the earth. I can see the fading light glisten off his sweaty brow. As he reaches the end of the row he turns back to face the row he had just seeded. Abruptly he takes off jogging back down the row waving his arms and cursing. My eyes follow his course. At the beginning of the row, Haymitch's geese are huddled together eagerly pecking up Peeta's seeds.

Peeta continues yelling and waving his arms wildly at the geese as they run back towards Haymitch's house honking and tooting, frustrated that their dinner plans have been thwarted.

I begin to giggle at the ridiculous scene that had just taken place, when Peeta stops suddenly and looks directly towards at my house.

I realize he must see me and I panic. Ducking behind the wall, breathing hard, I pause for a moment, thinking, who cares if he saw me. I've done nothing wrong.

Suddenly there is a knock at the door. The panic sets in again. Peeta's come to confront me for spying on him.

I take a second to collect myself. Not wanting Peeta to see me fretting over something so childish. As I reach the door there is a second knock, this time harder and irritated. I hear low voices conversing behind the door. "Who is Peeta talking too?" I wonder to myself.

I unbolt the heavy wooden door and pull it open, but instead of Peeta, I observe two men clothed in the gray jumpsuits of District 13 personnel. The first jumpsuit looks me up and down before holding out a white envelope with the words 'Katniss Everdeen' scribbled across the front.

"Katniss, I have a letter for you." He says as I take the envelope from his hand trying to decipher the handwriting. "There is also a message. If you object, you are to let me know before I head back to District 2 at nine tomorrow morning."

I cut in. "Object to what?" Not understanding what he is talking about.

"I don't know." He stops and clears his throat; my presence seems to make him anxious. "I mean, I don't know what the letter says or who it is from. I was just ordered to deliver it because I was coming out here today." He explains. "Then if you respond, I am to relay your message to my supervisor, who will see that it is conveyed to the concerned party."

The men then start down the stairs. Halting at the base, the first turns back towards me. "You can find me at the administration tent near the rubble of the Justice building." He motions towards the large tent that has been erected in the middle of the old courtyard. If you want to send a reply, find me there before 9:00 AM tomorrow."

The two turn and stride back towards town. I look down at the envelope in my hands, then towards Peeta's house. He is standing in his garden watching what has taken place, but looks away quickly and attempts to busy himself as I look his direction.

I step back into the foyer, closing the door. I again examine the envelope in my hands. Part of me wants to rip it open immediately to see who it is from. But the other part of me is afraid of who it could be from, or what it could say. I shuffle into the kitchen and sit down at the table, turning the envelope in circles in my hands working up the courage to open it.

After a few minutes I stop. Thinking to myself. " I have survived not one, but two Hunger Games. What could this letter hold for me that would be worse than that?"

I tear open the envelope and pull out the folded paper. Inhaling deeply I unfold the paper; examining its contents. The handwriting is scrawled sloppily across the page; I begin reading:

Katniss,

By now I am sure that you have heard that I'm working in District 2. My family is here as well. They wanted me to tell you hello and that they are doing well here.

I have gotten a position here aiding in the restoration of the infrastructure. Most specifically the new law enforcement force the new government is calling the Mockingjays. I am sure that you are groaning at the thought.

The reason I am writing to you, is to let you know that I'll be travelling to 12 next week for a few days. I would like to see you. I had thought about calling you, but I've heard you don't been answer your phone. So I thought I'd send you this letter asking for your permission to stop by. If you would not like to see me, just let Soldier Maxwell know before he leaves and I'll get the message. But if I don't hear anything then I'll know it is okay.

Hope to see you soon.

Gale

The letter surprises me. It doesn't seem like Gale to forewarn me. It is more likely that he would just show up in my kitchen one day, but then I guess since we haven't spoken in weeks, he isn't sure how I'd react.

Gale is coming and wants to talk to me. My stomach jumps a bit in anticipation. We have barely spoken since Prim's death and in our last exchange I blamed him for her death.

That must be why he is coming; to see if I still feel that way. But I don't even know if I still feel that way. Should I just tell him not to come?

I sit at the kitchen table going back and forth. I reread the letter over and over trying to make out the slightest clue as to why exactly he wants to see me when I hear a key in the back door, the click of the lock and the scrape of the door on the frame. Alerting me that it must be dinnertime and Greasy Sae is back.

She comes into the kitchen whistling a familiar tune. As she enters, she sets a food crate holding carrots and some kind of red meat on the opposite end of the table from me, unaware of my company. She glances up, catching sight of me sitting at the table and jumps back startled. She places her hand over her heart and slowing inhales, catching her breath.

"Oh, hey, Katniss! I didn't see you sitting there. You about scared the life right out of me." She looks at the table again, seeing the folded letter and open envelope on the table, but doesn't say anything. Instead she turns grabs a knife and pulls out the mystery hunk of red meat and begins to slice it into large pieces.

I watch her slide the knife through the cut of meat for a few seconds, before picking up the letter. I shove it back into the envelope as I stand up from the table. I start for the stairs, but stop as Greasy Sae calls "Katniss?"

"Yes?" I answer over my shoulder.

"Is there any bread left from this morning? I didn't see it when I cleaned up afterwards." Greasy Sae asks as she sets aside the knife and begins to collect the chunks of meat.

"No, we ate it all" I respond.

"Oh okay." She looks back towards her work and begins to drop the meat chunks into a pot simmering on the stove. I can tell she wants to say more, but after my reaction this morning she must feel it is better to just hold her tongue.

I feel bad for how I reacted to what she had said this morning. I wasn't mad at her for what she said. It just brought up too many painful memories. I bite my lip, knowing that I am going to regret this. "I can see if Peeta has any left if you like?"

Sae looks up from her work, smiling. "If you could. There was suppose to be a shipment of food from District 11 this afternoon, but the train broke down and it has been delayed a few days. Dinner might be a little light without it."

In my head I'm screaming "no, no, no!" But I just nod my head in agreement and grit my teeth, hoping she doesn't notice. I bound up the stairs, skipping steps, just to get away before I agree to do something else unpleasant and awkward.

I step into my room, open the top drawer of my dresser and drop in Gale's letter. I'll have to think about Gale later.

I shuffle into the bathroom and glance at myself in the mirror over the sink. Little hairs have fallen out of my braid and frame my face. I inhale deeply, blowing it back out at my reflection. The air bounces off of the mirror back into my face causing the little hairs flutter. "Ok. Let's get this over with." I say to my likeness.