A/N: This chapter's a lot longer than the first one. This one also has more—much more—dialogue than the last one, Thank God.
Harper is Katniss's father and Liam Undersee is, well, use your brain there.
Chapter Two- Winter Winds
When they were back in the district, Haymitch and Lila met up with Lillian, Harper, Mary Kate, and Liam Undersee.
To get closure, Haymitch brought Mary Kate to the side and they had a moment crying and apologizing about Maysilee. When they came back to the table with everyone else, it was like it never happened. It was like Maysilee and Haymitch never went to the Games. Harper and Haymitch kept on making witty comments, while the girls doubled over in laughter.
Eventually Mary Kate had to go to her house for dinner, and Liam joined her.
A couple of minutes later, a shrill voice was heard, "Lillian!" Everybody looked over to the apothecary shop. Harper quickly let go of Lillian's hand, and looked like he was about to run for it. Lillian's mother did not approve of the Seam, and seeing that Harper was from the Seam, that did not make her happy.
Lillian and her mother got into a huge fight right then and there, throwing each other derogatory words and obscene hand gestures.
"Aww, shit…" Haymitch whispered and Lila laughed. Then he grabbed her hand and started to run.
"Where are we going?" Lila asked while they were still running.
Haymitch responded, "You'll see!" When they reached the gate, Haymitch looked for the spot Harper took him to once or twice. There was a hole somewhere and it, and then you could just leave the district. Then he saw it. He crawled under and told Lila to come on over too.
"Are you crazy?"
"No,"
"I'm not going over there,"
"Yeah, you are. Come on!"
"Fine." Then she crawled under.
"See, it wasn't that hard!" Then he grabbed her hand again and they went exploring. He knew there was a lake somewhere, and that was where he wanted to go. When they reached there, Haymitch pushed Lila in.
"Mitchie!" She exclaimed when Haymitch jumped in cannonball style. While in the water, Haymitch grabbed his girl and held her close.
"I love you, sweetheart," He said, kissing Lila's forehead.
"I love you, too, Mitchie."
A couple of minutes later, they got out of the lake and watched the sunset.
"I missed you so much, Mitchie. I was so scared,"
"I know, I know."
After the sunset, they went back to the orphanage, where Lila lived.
"Hey!" Haymitch exclaimed. A girl looked to see who had yelled. Haymitch recognized the girl's face on the steps of the orphanage, but he couldn't recall her name. Yesterday, she and his friend, Harper, started singing when they had to evacuate the school building. It was snowing out and everyone was freezing, but the girl and Harper seemed to make everyone smile regardless. "You're the girl who sang, aren't you?"
"I also go by Lila, but I'm hoping that nickname sticks… Lila: The girl who sang. I kinda like it."
"I'm Haymitch. Haymitch Abernathy."
"Hey, Haymitch Abernathy,"
"Hey, Lila: The girl who sang,"
Lila walked closer to the boy called Haymitch to get a better look at him. She recognized him from school.
"You're a grade above me, aren't you?" She asked him.
"Yeah, I think so,"
"Cool,"
"Aren't you freezing?" Haymitch asked Lila. He noticed that she was only wearing pants, a sweater, and socks and there was snow on the ground. "Where are your shoes?"
"Oh, the boys stole them," she replied, rolling her eyes. "They're so stupid."
"Do… do you live in the orphanage?"
"Yeah, I always have. They just locked the doors, so I can't really get in… Hey! Do you wanna go for a walk with me?"
"Uhh, sure, yeah,"
So Lila and Haymitch went on a walk until she realized something. "Wait, shouldn't you be at your house, or something?"
"Nahh, my mom probably doesn't even realize I'm gone. She's too busy with my brother."
"What about your dad?"
There was a moment of crunching from the snow before Haymitch responded, "He died a couple of months ago,"
"In that mine accident?"
"Yeah,"
"Wow… I'm sorry,"
"It's fine,"
Scaling the Justice Building's stairs, Haymitch asked, "Hey, why do you live in the orphanage?"
"Uhh… you know, honestly, I really don't know. I know my mother was from the Seam, and I'm pretty sure that my father was a Peacekeeper. I think she was just one of those women that needed money and then ended up with me. I think I heard someone say once that my father was whipped to death because of what he did. Then again, I also heard that he ran away to the Capitol when he found out about my mother, so I'm not really sure what to believe."
"What happened to your mother?"
"Died in childbirth, I think"
Haymitch looked at the girl and realized how beautiful she was. She had lighter skin than most of the people in the Seam, and her hair was curly and almost red. Not bright red, but a brownish red. Then he looked at her eyes. They weren't like his, grey and dangerous, but they were green, young and fearless. He could tell that she got most of her characteristics from her father.
"Come here, I want to show you this place," Lila said and grabbed Haymitch's hand. She took him to what he knew to be a Peacekeeper's house.
"What are we doing here?" He whispered,
Lila sushed him and told him to listen closely.
"What are we listening for?"
"Music…" Then he heard it. He'd never heard the song before, but it was pretty. "They have these things in the Capitol that can play music, they're called radios."
"Moon River, Wider than a Mile,
I'm crossing you in Style someday,
Oh Dreammaker,
You Heartbreaker,
Where ever you're going,
I'm going your way"
"I think this one is called Moon River," she whispered and then threw her hands around Haymitch, "Dance with me," she said. So he did.
Soon, Lila started singing along,
"Two drifters, off to see the world,
There's such a lot of world to see,
We're after that same Rainbow's End,
Waiting around the bend,
My Huckleberry Friend,
Moon River and Me"
"You have a beautiful voice," Haymitch told Lila.
"Oh, thank you," Then she yawned. "Well, I do reckon that it is late… I should get back,"
"Oh Yeah, I should too,"
"I'll see you later, Haymitch?"
"Yeah, absolutely,"
"Crap, they locked the doors again…" Lila exasperated while jiggling the door handle to the orphanage.
"Well maybe you should get in on time,"
Lila punched Haymitch in the arm, "Oh, shut up,"
"Stay with me tonight. You know, I do live in Victor's Village now."
"Oh, yes, that is true isn't it? Now shall we crown King Haymitch now, or shall that wait until the morning?"
"Haha, very funny,"
"I seem to think so… So can I?"
"Yeah, yeah! Absolutely!"
Lila gave Haymitch a quick peck on the cheek, "Thank you, Mitchie,"
In Haymitch's new house, the two met up with Haymitch's mother and brother.
"Lila! Look at our new house!" Hayden exclaimed.
"I know! It's amazing!" Lila replied, genuinely amazed. She looked at the delicate living room with just enough to make it even better than Mary Kate's house. She looked at the pretty pictures on the walls, and saw the amazing kitchen.
"Come on," Haymitch grabbed her and pulled her upstairs to his room.
A/N: Yeah, another flashback! This one was really long, but I just loved the way they met(: Oh, and the part where they ran up to Haymitch's room, *wink, wink* heheh. You get the idea(;
Oh! And Moon River by Any Williams is such a beautiful song! I've officially made it Lila and Haymitch's theme song. I don't care if that seems obsessive :P. And it kind of will fit them once the plot thickens, you'll see :D Well, I guess it could kind of fit them now, doing everything together and never wanting to leave each other, but I think the way I want it to fit will be more ironic. Will it be in a good way? Is irony ever good? Hmm, we shall see.
The title for this chapter- Winter Winds is inspired by Winter Winds by Mumford and Sons. It's a great song, and it kind of fits because they met in the winter, and even the first moment they saw each other, they knew what they had would be special, even though it would be a bumpy road(: So listen to Winter Winds and Moon River! You won't regret it. Jeez, this is long… whatever.
Golly, I'm stoked! Review and you'll get cookies! Not really. I should stop lying. I'll give that up for Lent.
Rockets and Wizards, Madii