This chapter is really long, but my next chapters will be a lot shorter. So yeah, pretty much everything I said last chapter still applies here. Let me know how you like it!
Without another word, Russel and I were rushed to the Justice Building by several peacekeepers. Two of them ushered me into a private room that quickly caught my attention. It wasn't a large room, but it was plenty larger than my own bedroom. I sat on a worn, but still fine, velvet couch.
The peacekeepers that brought me here didn't bother to say anything. They just shut the door.
I didn't expect many visitors. Who would say goodbye to a girl they hardly knew and couldn't reply a thanks back to them? When I was little, it always hurt to see people glance at you with that tiniest interest, that tiniest hope, and then turn back and continue with the day. As the years piled on, I'd grown a little more accustomed to it, although it still irked Ash to insanity.
My first visitors were, of course, my family. My mother, father and Willie wrapped their arms around me the instant the peacekeeper let them in. Willie and my mom were half sobbing, and even my dad was shedding a few tears, something I'd rarely ever seen him do.
I did my best to sign and tell them it was alright, but my mother's sobs only grew louder. I think the fact that I couldn't speak only pained her more.
I hated this, how much pain the capitol had already caused my family. Once again, I signed to my family, this time with a little more determination to get my words across.
"She says she doesn't want us to be sad." Willie said between sniffles. "She wants us to be brave and we can't give up no matter what." That earned another hug. After this, my little brother turned to our parents.
"I wanna talk to Lynnie alone." he mumbled, clinging onto me as if his life depended on it. We could both see they didn't want to leave just yet, but they knew how much we depended on each other and nodded. My mother gingerly kissed my forehead and my father repeated this, along with the words "don't give up, Lynnie-bird."
I almost smiled. My dad had a nickname for each of his children, but he never used mine after I became mute. Rosa was always "Rose bud" and occasionally "Rosie cheeks". He especially liked teasing her with it when she was embarrassed because her cheeks would turn as red as the flower she was named for.
My brother was "Willie goat". He was learning about animals at the time and the goat had caught his interest. So, dad taught him some old story about three billy goats, but changed billy to Willie. The name had stuck ever since and he used it on Willie whenever they were having a father-son time.
I got "Lynnie-bird" when I was five. A hummingbird had landed on a nearby tree and I watched it for at least two hours, slowly and silently getting closer. Finally, I was able to coax it onto my finger. It was only for a few minutes before the little bird zipped away to some lovely flowers, but my dad had called me Lynnie-bird as my nickname. Still, it hadn't been used since Rosa's death.
He couldn't see my graditude long enough, since a peacekeeper shoved him out of the room. I turned to my brother and his head ducked into my side.
"I don't want you to go, Lynnie." His voice was so pleading, so innocent. "If you go, you won't come back. I'll be all alone." It took every ounce of strength I had not to break down and cry with him. It wasn't fair that he had to lose to sisters to the Hunger Games. It just wasn't right.
I tilted his chin up, so he would be able to see my signs.
'I will do everything I can to come back home to you.' My handed moved into each position quickly. He held up his pinkie finger to me.
"Promise?" he asked. "That you'll do the very best you can? The very, very best?" The tears escaped as I smiled, miserably, and linked my pinkie to his.
'The very, very, very best.' I assured him with my free hand. 'but if I don't come back, I need you to be a really brave boy and help mom and dad, ok? Ash, too.' He nodded, putting on his bravest face. 'I'll even let you have my little bow. Ash can teach you.' Anything to protect him, anything to give him the slightest chance to defend himself if I couldn't be there anymore.
'Don't ever put in tessarae for the Hunger Games.' I warned him. Finally, I wrapped my arms around my little brother in tight hug. 'And don't forget me or Rosa. Please don't forget.'
"That'll be my promise." He whispered back with his adorable little smile. The peacekeeper took him out of the room, a little gentler than my parents. I silently thanked him.
My brother was out of my life, likely for good. I felt curling up and dying. It wouldn't be much longer until that happened anyway.
My next visitor was a shocker. I would have never guessed it, but there in front of me stood Gale Hawthorne. He almost looked as if he were in some sort of deja vu being in this room, puzzled and slightly upset. I wondered why.
He took a few steps closer to me, so we were in whispering distance. Gale put his hand onto my shoulder, lowering himself to my height like I was younger than what I really was. Strangely though, I didn't mind. In the very short time that I'd known him (a few hours), he didn't seem to be the kind of guy to show much emotion.
"Your family, your brother, they won't starve." He told me, sounding calm as always. My eyes widened. "I'll even keep that friend of yours out of trouble."
I was stunned. Was this man always selflessly kind to people he met? No, if he was like this to everyone, nobody in district 12 would have a single complaint. Still, Gale made me feel ... special. Like that feeling you get when an adult gives you a treat, and only you. I smiled at him in a way that clearly meant thank you.
"But I do want you to do something for me." He told me. I nodded, ready to give him my own hand if it meant that my family would be safe. He now whispered in my ear. "I'm not Katniss Everdeen's cousin. Tell her that she needs to stop punishing herself. Peeta died for her to live a better life, not to torture herself over him." His gray eyes softened for a moment. "Tell her I missing hunting with her. That it's not the same. Most importantly, tell her I miss her, every minute of every day."
Gale stood up, his calm composure back.
"May the odds ever be in your favor." He told me, with a smirk as he used the capitol's funny accent. With that, he left as suddenly as he'd arrived.
"You have one more visitor." The peacekeeper announced after a few minutes. The door opened once again, revealing a face I cared about and trusted so much.
Ash was by my side in an instant, long years of hunting giving the both of us speed and accuracy. If there was one thing I liked so much about being around him right now, it was that I could release a little of my emotions. Not all, that would leave me empty and him overwhelmed, but enough to keep me from becoming too bottled up.
I buried my head into his chest, tears finally breaking free. I don't know how long we stayed like that, me silently crying, listening to the sound of his heart beat, and him gently rubbing my back. Eventually, I felt a few drops of water on my neck.
Lifting my head up, I noticed for the first time I'd ever known him, that Ash was crying too. The hard, clever, expert hunter Ash, had tears in his eyes, although he qucikly wiped them away. Sometimes, I forgot that he was fifteen, going on sixteen in the fall. It was easy to forget our ages when we were in the woods. When we were hunting in the forest of district 12, it felt like we were eternal, forever hunting through our woods.
How I wished it could have stayed like that. Ash and I getting a nice day's catch and then skinning them out, preparing them for dinner. That wasn't going to happen again.
His hands, slightly scarred from years of hunting, gently wiped away my tears as I returned my gaze to him. One of his hands lingered on my cheek.
"You have to make it." He told me. Typical Ash. While others told me to try my best, he expects no little of winning. Still, I know he's only worried about me. I nod my head.
'You'll take care of Willie, right?' I signed.
"I promise on my life. He'll be completely fine." He assured me. Then, his eyes softened, almost like Gale's did when he talked about my mentor. "It's you I'm worried about."
'I'm scared.' It was true and I only ever admitted fear with him. He brushed a stray tear from my face.
"Do you want to know my secret?" He asked, trying to cheer me up. "It's kind of ruined now because of the stupid reapings and everything, but I gave you my word I'd tell you."
I nod my head once again, trying to change to a topic that might bring less tears.
"Close your eyes." he whispered. I slowly did as I was told. I had complete trust in Ash. He then took my arms to hold my hair up. What? Something was placed around my neck, but it didn't make me choke. Instead, it hung loosely and gently.
"Ok, you can open them." Once I heard his reply, my eyes eagerly snapped open. I looked down at the base of my neck and froze. There, laid a small white crystal pendant, hung on a dark leather strap. It was the most gorgeous necklace I'd ever seen. My eyes flickered back to Ash, alarmed.
"Don't worry. I didn't pay for it. I traded." he chuckled. "That's why I've been kind of avoiding you for the week or so and why I was at the Hob earlier. I would've been able to get a chain too, if that lady hadn't been so damn pricey."
'I've never seen something so beautiful.' I signed.
"I have." he mumbled under his breath. Not sure if I'd heard right, I turned to him, curious. "Listen, there's another part to the secret." My eyes widened, but I happily closed them again. I was beginning to like this game. Ash's light laugh was heard next to me. I was about to open them again, but he stopped me from doing so.
His lips gently brush up against my cheek. My breathing stopped. Fireworks lit off in my head. What had just happened? After his lips departed my cheek, I turned to him, eyes wide. His hand was on my other cheek and his face was just inches away from me.
"I love you Lyn." he breathed into my ear. "That's why you have to win the games. If you die, I die. Please Lyn, win the games for me, for you. For us." He pulled me in a close hug. Still too stunned to sign, I wrapped my arms around his neck. I wasn't sure if the tears that fell were happy or sad, but they fell none the less.
"Time's up." a peacekeeper yelled. Ash stood up with me still in his arms. He gently pried my hands from him and touched my cheek one last time.
"Don't forget." He gave me a weary smile, one that was both in pain and in love at the same time. The peacekeeper hauled him out of the room, leaving me alone with one thought.
Ash loves me.
