A/N: Yay! Another chapter completed! I promise they won't all be one chapter = one day or else this would be a LONG fic! Anyway, hope you enjoy! And please leave your feedback, thanks to those who have already done so!
Katniss found herself early the next morning eyeing the jars of creams and lotions she had been given for her skin. She knew she should apply them, but if she were to hunt that day, any strong scent might scare away her prey. She told herself she'd use them after she came in and showered that evening as she shut the cabinet in her bathroom.
She left Greasy Sae another note on the kitchen counter as she prepared some food to take along. She tore off a hunk of bread from one of the remaining loaves and ate it as she headed out early. The birds called after her on the cool spring morning as she made her way into the forest.
She discovered two plump rabbits in her snares, as well as a young fox that she let loose. She reset the snares as she went. She was in no hurry, had no concern for the amount of game she caught to be sold or traded later. That was all before. Now she had plenty of food and someone to prepare it. She was unsure of the townsfolk's need for game. The Hob was no longer in existence, and as far as she could tell from her conversations with Greasy Sae, those who had moved back into town were fairing well. But hunting gave Katniss something to do, a way to move on. And Greasy Sae would surely appreciate the different game and wild greens to add to her cooking.
So Katniss moved at her own pace, advancing quietly through the woods. Having caught three squirrels the day before and two rabbits that morning, she focused on target practice. Yesterday had been the first time in months that she had shot a bow. The first time since she killed Coin. She felt sick at the thought and missed the tree trunk she was aiming at. She cleared her thoughts as best she could and retrieved her arrow from the underbrush. Her next shot, to a woody knob on a tree many paces off, was on target.
She remembered all those years when she, her mother, and Prim had been kept alive by her skill with a bow. How it had helped her win favor with the Gamemakers. How it had kept her alive in the arena. Now it was reduced to what could be considered a hobby, she mused. Her life was not at stake here, whether she shot straight or not. No one else depended on her skill. She thought of the arrow piercing the boy who had killed Rue. The arrow that she had tied Peeta's tourniquet with, which had kept him from bleeding to death. The arrow that was meant for President Snow.
Again, she shuddered at the thought. Of course her assassination of Coin had been deemed the work of someone who was not mentally stable. After Prim's death, it was no wonder they had branded her as a loon. However, she was more stable now, she thought as she pulled the arrow from the knob in the tree, than she had been in the past couple of years. It was over, she had been told too many times. It was over. The Hunger Games. The Quarter Quell. The rebellion. The trial. Her role as the Mockingjay. Yet nothing was truly over when nightmares and flashbacks plagued her more nights than not. Not when she had the scars to remind her of each wound, physical or not. Not when her dreams had been pushed aside for fear she may never live long enough to see them realized. Not when her next-door neighbor was a boy who had loved her, been taken away from her, and then returned hating her.
"He doesn't hate you…" Greasy Sae's words echoed as she aimed for another target, her thoughts weighing heavy in her mind.
How could he still hate her? He had planted the primroses for her. He had inquired after her for months. He had baked her bread and smiled happily when she thanked him. Unless it was some cruel trick to get her near enough so that he could wrap his hands around her throat – again – and kill her. But Peeta had stayed in the Capitol for months after she had been banished back to District 12, undergoing all kinds of therapy. Maybe he was back to "normal" – whatever that meant. Whatever the case, whether he still hated her or not, she doubted his feelings from before were still the same.
And in the woods on that warm spring day, birds chirping all around, she realized that him not loving her anymore hurt almost as much as Prim's death.
She didn't have Gale. She didn't have her mother, or Prim. Greasy Sae was kind enough but she, nor her granddaughter that sometimes came along with her, was not the kind of friend or confidante that Katniss needed. Haymitch didn't count either. He was too much like Katniss for the two to be civil for long. No one knew what she had gone through like Peeta. But how much of it did he truly remember now that his mind had been addled?
She shot straight for the rest of the day, emptying her mind of all but her target. When she was sweating and hungry mid-day, she ate the food and enjoyed the bottle of water she had packed.
Katniss found herself making her way back to the Victor's Village near sunset, pinks and golds flooding the sky. She breathed deeply of the cool spring air, more weary than she had been in months. It felt good, though, to be out and active all day. She peeled out of her sweat-dampened clothes and headed for the shower. Afterwards she made good her promise to her mother by slathering her skin in one of the medicated creams. It smelled slightly of mint. Try as she might, there were areas on her back that she couldn't reach. She sat on the bathroom floor, naked, until the cream had fully absorbed. It was a long while and she heard Greasy Sae let herself in downstairs.
"I'll be down in a minute!" Katniss called out to the older woman as she got dressed.
Greasy Sae was cooking some of the wild greens that had been gathered the day before when Katniss made her way downstairs. Katniss presented her with the two plump rabbits and the older woman told her they'd be perfect for a stew, packing them with her things.
That night Katniss ate the lean, stringy meat mixed in with sausage and rice, recognizing it as squirrel. She was glad Greasy Sae had put it to good use. When it was time for the older woman to pack up and go next door, Katniss followed her as she had done the night before. Greasy Sae didn't question her or even say a word as Katniss walked beside her.
Again Peeta was at his back door, waiting for Greasy Sae. Instead of standing in the doorway like the night before, however, he moved out a few feet into the yard when he saw Katniss. She willed herself not to blush – from embarrassment she told herself – though in the dim light one would hardly notice.
"Hi," she managed, shyly.
"Hey," Peeta replied, a slight smile on his face.
They were standing maybe three feet apart, the closest they had been in months. Katniss held her hands behind her so he wouldn't see her wringing them nervously. She had a hard time not staring at his shoes.
"How is construction on the new bakery coming along?" She asked, genuinely interested.
"Good," he replied with a wider grin. "Just got the ovens installed the other day. I'm still waiting on some more supplies from the Capitol until it's all ready though."
"Oh?" She responded inquisitively.
"Yeah," he replied, his right arm fold behind is head casually. "It should be open soon. There's going to be a grand opening. You should come." He added quickly.
"Oh yeah? Just let me know when," Katniss managed to say. Her cheeks were warm and she prayed to herself that he couldn't tell. She felt awkward enough as it were.
"Well, enjoy your dinner," Katniss added after a too-long pause. "It's squirrel that I caught yesterday, in the woods. Good thing I'm not the one cooking." Katniss joked as she turned back toward her house.
Peeta laughed and Katniss's stomach lurched. As she stepped back into her kitchen, she turned to catch sight of Peeta still in his doorway, watching her. He raised one arm to wave as she closed the door behind her.