Ten Years Later...
Today was the day. She'll finally know what the Districts look like and have the freedom to roam around and run to the wilderness. She wasn't such a wild child, actually. She was well-composed and classy. Growing up in the Capitol can do that to a child though a lot had changed since the Rebellion. Besides, her mother had been very determined on teaching her the good manners and proper etiquette that should be observed in a young lady like her.
She wasn't a morning person like her mother and grandfather. She usually woke up late unless her mother woke her up but today was different. She made use of the dusty alarm clock on her bedside table to wake up before her mother and grandfather did.
The sound of her alarm pierced the silence of the house and she quickly turned it off so no one will be awake except for her. It only took her half an hour to get ready for today. Dressed in a white shirt with the camp's logo, beige shorts and white tennis shoes, she went straight to the kitchen without turning on all the lights in the hallway and sitting room that she passed by.
She turned on the coffee maker and prepared her mother's tea before she started cooking. She was proud of herself that at a very young age of seven, her Uncle Peeta taught her how to cook since her mother had been very successful of cooking burnt or barely cooked dishes when she was younger. They always ended up buying breakfast from her Uncle Peeta's bakery down the street and buying or ordering take-outs in restaurants for lunch and dinner. At least, her mom can make her favorite waffles with honey but this time, she was the one who was making it. She wanted this day to run as smoothly as possible.
The pancakes were almost done when her grandfather went down on the kitchen. Her grandfather smiled at the sight of her as he stood at the entrance of kitchen. She was flipping pancakes on the stove while humming a tune. The aroma of coffee and tea made the kitchen smell so inviting.
He cleared his throat so he wouldn't startle her. "Today is a special day isn't it?" he said as he took a mug from the cupboards.
She looked at him sideways and smiled. "Mmm hmm," she nodded and faced the stove again. His grandfather leaned on the counter and held a plate for the pancakes. "So, are you ready to be on your own for month?" he looked at her with concern as they moved to the table where the waffles with honey and omelet were already set. She put the pancakes with blueberries in the middle.
She scrunched her nose and looked shyly at him. "I'm not so sure about that," she admitted. She had packed her bags last night but she still felt like she had missed something. "But please don't tell mom," her eyes widened, afraid that her mom will not send her to Seven later.
"Of course," he sipped his black coffee, "but tell me, why would you be nervous for this camping?" his voice was soothing her nerves. "You were so excited about this ever since you got that letter."
"I don't know. I mean, there'll be a lot of people out there and I don't even have any social skills to help me." She sighed and bit her waffle. "I don't know how mom does it. She just walk to someone and charm them," she wished that she could do that. She was one of the invisible students in her school. She was alright with it at the start but somehow she yearned for some company. She had some acquaintances or friends but they weren't real friends. She never crumbled on the outside but it really bothered her in the inside. Some kids still gave her a hard time being a former Escort's daughter. She didn't know much about the Games and every time she asked her mother, her mother will just stare at a point and she was gone.
He only needed to look once at his granddaughter to know what exactly was going on in her mind. They knew about the bullies and his daughter already did something about it but it wasn't enough so they moved her to different schools for the past few years. He hoped that this one last move would be permanent.
He took her attention by placing his hand on her shoulder. She was looking at him when he said, "just be yourself, Garrie," he made her look at him directly in his eyes and sincerely added, "and don't worry."
She noticed the concern in her grandfather's face and voice. She smiled weakly and nodded. "As long as they don't know that I'm a Trinket," she thought. Being a Trinket was an honor before because of their family's wealth and prestige but everything changed since the Rebellion. She knew that her mother was imprisoned for joining the Rebels. She figured that out when the kids in school called her mother a traitor.
The growing silence was cut short when her mother went downstairs to join them. It appeared that her mother was ready for her party later. She beamed immediately at her daughter and kissed her good morning. She joined their breakfast and started the conversation about her daughter's camping trip.
Most of what her mother said were the usual rules when she was going out but she was surprised when her mother started warning her about the dangers in the forest and giving her advices on what to do if ever she got lost away from the pack. She asked her mother how she knew all these stuff. "I was an Escort, my dear," her mother tried to smile but the hollow look in her eyes betrayed her. Her mother lost her appetite after that. That statement was probably the most honest thing that she heard from her mother about the Games.
Breakfast ended shortly after her mother retreated back to her room and her mother got back down again, only the slightly red eyes were the proof that she had an episode again. At least, her episodes weren't as frequent as before. At the high end restaurant near the center of the Capitol where her mother's party will take place, they met her Uncle Peeta.
He waved when he saw them across the street. She noticed that he was wearing bland clothes again, just a pair of dark jeans, white slightly fitted v-neck shirt, a baseball hat and sunglasses to somehow hide his face to the crowd. He looked out of place as he jogged through the sea of the Capitol people. He stopped in front of them. He gave a smile and nod to Effie while he bent down a bit to ruffle the little girl's curls, "hey, Garrie."
"Uncle..." she whined as she fixed her curls. She put on her camping hat so her hair would stay in place and gave him a quick hug. "So, are you ready?" Peeta asked to the girl with a smile he reserved only for her.
"Yes, we're all set," she beamed and looked up at her mom behind her.
Effie squeezed her daughter's shoulder and nodded. She looked to Peeta, "the bags are in the car. Are you sure that you're okay with this?" She really didn't want to impose though Peeta had always been kind to them.
"It's okay," and he was really sincere about it, "besides, this is your party. You've made the reservations months ago, Effie. Don't worry, I'll accompany her safely in Seven." He gave her a reassuring smile.
She nodded and squatted down to her daughter. "Be good, okay? Don't forget to call me every night. Are you sure that you didn't forget anything at all?"
She rolled her eyes good naturedly, "Mom, you've already checked it twice last night." She held her mother's hands, "I'll be fine. I promise," she told her mother charmingly.
Her mother sighed, "I'm just worried that's all." She rubbed the back of her daughter's hands with her thumbs. She was keeping her tears at bay, "Oh, my little girl is growing up." She said as she tucked a strand of her girl's curls. She pecked her forehead and hugged her fiercely tight. "Be good, my little pearl," she whispered, "and don't get into too much trouble."
"I won't," she promised, "I'll be back before you know it, mom." She winked.
She held her uncle's hand and got inside the car. She propped herself at the back seat so she could look back at her mother while her uncle was driving away.
She was watching her daughter disappear with Peeta in the busy streets of the Capitol when a man appeared beside her, "I haven't got the chance to say goodbye." His thick Southern Capitol accent sounded different from the accent she used before.
"Mmm hmmm," she murmured. "She couldn't wait for you or else the train will leave without her." Her eyes never left the street where her daughter disappeared to.
He looked at her with worry, knowing that the days to come wouldn't be easy for her. "Sorry, I'm late. She'll be alright." He tried to assure her.
She looked at him with her arms crossed in front of her, "But that wouldn't stop me from worrying about her."
She was running around the house, entering and exiting the rooms to find her camping hat. "DAD!" she shouted at the second floor while rummaging through the drawers and closets.
"WHAT?!" he shouted from the kitchen.
"DID YOU FIND MY HAT?" he heard her footsteps around the house. He rolled his eyes. "WHICH HAT?" she had a closet full of hats, bags and shoes. He didn't even know she got all those stuff. Maybe he was giving her more than enough allowance for school.
He tried to rack his brains to recall her hats. She usually put her things back to where it belonged so he didn't know how she could possibly lose something.
"MY CAMPING HAT!" He knitted his brows as he turned off the stove. He didn't know that she had a camping hat. Based on the sound of her voice, he knew that she was getting frustrated as the minutes passed by. "NO! BREAKFAST'S READY!" He yelled and served bacon and eggs on the table. He heard more scuffling, "DANNIE!" he warned.
"YEAH! ONE MINUTE!" He heard something heavy dropped. Then, something broke.
He looked up to the ceiling as if he could see her and yelled. "GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE!" He wasn't really mad or anything but he knew that that will do the trick.
"YEAH!" Her reply was a bit muffled. She must've been at the other side of the house.
He rolled his eyes and prepared their fresh lemon juice. He heard her stomping her feet on the stairs. "My ass is here!" she announced as she made a beeline to the bacon. He cooked it just the way she liked it, crispy and greasy. She took the bacon by hand and joined her father at the counter while eating the said favorite. She grabbed the glass of juice once he was finished making it.
"So, where did 'ya find it?" He tapped the aforementioned camping hat as they moved the food to the living room to watch the only animal channel.
They sat on the comfortable couch and put their dishes on their laps. "Wosiswed," she answered while munching her bacon and egg sandwich. Her father grabbed her wrist and gave her a pointed look, "Hey, don't talk when your mouth is full." He didn't have a thing on manners but he didn't want his daughter to grow up to be a caveman or woman – er, caveperson? – like him.
She rolled her eyes. "Yes dad. I found it at Rosie's bed." She showed him the scratch at the visor of the baseball hat with the camp's logo.
"Good," he nodded while licking the grease off his fingers. They stayed silent for the rest of the meal. "So, you all set for today?" Both of their eyes were glued on the mountain eagle that was hunting its prey. "Uh huh," she finished her food with a huge gulp of juice.
"And you're sure that you're going to that camp? You're going away for a month." He followed her to the kitchen to wash the dishes since it was her turn now because he washed the dishes yesterday. She narrowed her eyes at him, "Hmm... You've been asking me non-stop since yesterday. You're going to miss me aren't you?" she teased with that glimmer in her eyes.
"Oh, come on." She received an annoyed eye-roll in return, "when you're gone, who's gonna clean up your pet's mess?"
She slapped his arm with her soapy hands. "Hey! Take care of Rosie! You can't leave her alone while I'm gone." She pouted and put her hands on her hips, momentarily forgot the soap water staining her clothes. She gave him her death glare to add an effect.
"Yeah, yeah," he waved his hand to dismiss her unwanted lecture about taking care of animals that was bound to happen at some point if he wouldn't stop her now. "I'll get Katniss if something happens," he adjusted her hat so the visor was in front of her.
"Oh, I almost forgot. We need to go to Aunt Katniss," she dried her hands and tugged him to her room to make him pick up her huge duffel bag and put it at the back of his pick-up truck.
It was a long drive to the Victor's Village. Their villa was on the other side of the District. The vineyard used to be outside of the fence but her father paid some people built a fence around the property to protect her and the crops. He found fertile land below the mountains and decided that having a vineyard was going to be a good start to slowly get himself away from the liquor. Using his barely used Victor's allowance, he built a vineyard with the help of the people and it became one of the main incomes of the District. Investors came and after ten years, he wasn't the only one who owned a land outside the fence.
She opened the window to let the fresh summer breeze in. The sun was shining but it was still early so the air was still a bit cool on her face. She stared at her surroundings through the open window. She watched their villa grew smaller at the distance. It wasn't really big but it had more rooms for her and her dad. She wondered why he would design a house that was too big for the two of them since he hated wasting anything.
She was humming an old folk song in Twelve as her father drove them to her aunt's house. The engine hadn't even hit its full stop when she pulled half of her body through the window and waved at her aunt who was walking with the game this morning.
Katniss grinned as she received a forceful hug from the little girl. When the girl pulled away, she tried to peek at the bag. "What's the game today?" she asked when her aunt adjusted the bag in her hands.
"Just a rabbit and two squirrels," her aunt shrugged. Katniss wrapped an arm around the blonde's shoulder and gave the bag to Haymitch. "Just this?" he asked because she usually hunted more than that. She shrugged, "I put up the snares. There'll be more when you're back." She didn't wait for his reply and walked his daughter inside her house as he headed for the butcher. "So, what do you want to do to your hair this time?" she asked when she sat beside the girl.
The girl crinkled her nose. She couldn't decide between a fishtail braid and pigtail braids so she just asked her aunt. Her aunt told her that the pigtails would suit her more so she started gathering the thick blonde curls.
"Please look after him while I'm gone." She quickly said before she might forget. Her aunt stilled for a moment to think about it. "He's old. He can take care of himself," she resumed twisting and turning the curls.
The girl rolled her eyes though her aunt can't see it. "Oh yeah right," she said sarcastically. "He takes care of himself to take care of me. He eats when I eat. He goes to work when I'm in school. Basically, his life revolves around so what would happen if I'm not around for a month?" Well, was true. It was just her and him at home and they usually do things together. Her aunt casually visited them every day and whenever she and her aunt bonded, her father would be working in the vineyard and winery or he would be down at the butcher's to trade her aunts game.
"Aren't you a smart-ass," her aunt commented. "He'll be fine," her aunt assured her but she doubted that her aunt even believed it.
Her shoulders slumped. She can feel that her aunt will be finished soon and her father was about to come back, "Just... keep an eye on him while I'm gone." She took one of the braids and glanced back to her aunt, "Please." This was the first time that she wouldn't be staying at their or her aunt's house. She would be worried about herself in camp but her concern about her father seemed to cloud that.
Katniss sighed and slumped her shoulders, "okay." She put the kid's baseball hat backwards on her head and adjusted the kid's braids.
"And don't let him roast Rosie in the chimney," she added seriously to lighten the mood.
Her father came back with the right timing. "Ready to go?" he asked at the doorframe and wiped the glistening sweat on his forehead. The summer breeze was getting hot. The ride to the station was shorter.
For the whole train ride, she had been giving him the pointers that he should or shouldn't do while she was away like: give Rosie her food and water, don't try to roast her again if she poops on your bed, fix the seesaw, change the pool's water etc. He just nodded at her and tried to look that he was memorizing the things that she was saying but she was aware that she had been saying a lot of things so she ended up giving him a copy of the list that she gave her aunt. He didn't know that her aunt had the original yet and that was good because he would keep the list but she knew that after a few days, the list might got lost in a forgotten soiled pants. She had been his walking to-do list every since she can memorize so she was really worried what he would do when she was at camp.
They arrived just in time. The train station was packed with people from the Districts and Capitol. She would really hug her mother for thinking ahead and renting a car in Seven that day because even with so many people, the public transportation in the vast District was very limited. Her uncle let her be as she silently stared in awe at the sceneries Seven had to offer.
They stopped in the middle of a forest with a lot of cabins and kids that were near her age. She glanced at her uncle and she couldn't hide the excitement that she was feeling. He grinned at her, "let's go." Her uncle carried most of her bags. He told her to stay there with her bags. He said that he would confirm her registration and get her cabin keys and kit instead of her.
When they arrived, the crowd was thinning so they thought that it wouldn't be hard to find the ill-tempered redhead and the sun-kissed blonde. The boy saw them first. "Dannie!" he yelled as he yanked the little girl away from her father for a bone-crushing hug. It was good that he called her name or else her father would go ballistics if his girl was suddenly pulled out of his grip.
Finnick was strong and tall like his father but he also share her mother's kind-hearted and forgiving heart. She tried to squirm out of his hug, "Nick..." she gritted her teeth. Her braids are going to be destroyed. He released her immediately but still in arms length, "Good to see you again, little one." He just loved teasing her petite figure.
"Can we go now?" she tried to duck when Nick was about to mess her hair again. Luckily, her aunt saved her and slapped the boy's hand.
Her Aunt Jo wasn't into social interactions but she let Nick and Dannie get close to her. She opened her arms to hug the little blonde girl, "you're gonna love it here, munchkin." Finnick certainly got the teasing personality from his godmother.
"She's just staying for a month," her father warned them and pulled his daughter back closer to him. The boys carried the bags until the four of them got inside Johanna's jeep. Jo used a shortcut since they were about to be late for the registration. She looked at the mirror to check if the kids were listening to them but she saw that they were clearly engrossed with each other as they shared stories at the backseat and ignored the adults. She adjusted the mirror and focused on the road.
"So, you're alone for a month," he knew that she would open up that can of worms but he couldn't risk it while his daughter was only a few inches away so he just said, "it wouldn't be like the last time." His jaw clenched tightly. It was a small gesture that would be unnoticed but since they knew each other very well as the years pass by, the redhead knew that it was time for her to shut up.
Once they got to the camp, Johanna guide the kids to the registration while Haymitch handled the bags. Since Jo was one of the facilitators, they wouldn't need to fall in line the queue.
She was just waiting at the registration counter while looking around when she someone familiar caught her eyes. "Nick," she tugged his arm and pointed to the mass of people. "Look, there's Uncle Peeta!" She thought that Nick would follow her but her trail disappeared quickly in the thick queue. She didn't hear Nick calling for her. She just followed where she saw her uncle.
Nick tried to find her but he lost her. He ran to his godmother quickly and told her that Dannie ran to their Uncle Peeta and he lost sight of her. Joanna was sent into a mild panic because there could only be one reason why Peeta was in the camp. She silently cursed Haymitch and Effie for their decision to separate the twins.
With Finnick at her side, she squirmed her way in the queue to find the girl but she wasn't there. She went to where the luggage were and sighed in relief when she saw the girl walking around and looking at the scenery. She had her back towards them but Johanna knew that it was her. "Phew, that was close. Her dad will skin me alive if we lost her." She turned to her godson and jerked her thumb to the girl, "Go get the girl, Finnick."
Nick jogged to the girl and put his hand on her shoulder to turn her around. His godmother followed him and saw the little blonde girl shocked as if their heads were as big as the Red Queen in Wonderland.
Johanna narrowed her eyes at the girl when Finnick was talking to her. The girl was staring at the boy with bewilderment but something caught her eyes behind them. Johanna couldn't decipher the expression in the girl's face so she looked at where the girl was staring at.
She only saw Haymitch coming their way with a huge duffel bag in his hand. She looked again at the girl – the expression at the girl's face, the shock and confusion and othe emotions that she couldn't decode.
Everything clicked. Finnick wasn't talking to Dannie. Dannie must've found Peeta so this girl with them must be – Oh no. She cursed out loud, never mind the kids hearing her curse. She was in a shit loud of trouble. Curse the two for putting her in this position.
Haymitch's heavy footsteps stomped louder. She felt her heartbeat was matching his footsteps. He was getting near. She was panicking inside. She didn't know what to do. Should she tell Finnick to hide Garrie from her father or should she introduce him to the daughter that he hadn't seen in nine years?
Oooops a cliffhanger... What do you think Johanna will do? Remember when I said that I will change a lot of stuff? This last scene is one of those.
allonsysilvertongue and RonaldGarcia91: You'll find out how Haymitch got the girl in the next chapter or the one after that. Super thank you for the review! :D
Sorry for the late update. I was busy to write during the Mother's Day weekend. Belated Happy Mother's day to the mothers out there!
.Elle.