A/N: As much as I love writing this story, it's time to move the story towards its conclusion. I don't know have a clue on how many chapters are left, but I will make it worth your while. And thank you for checking in whenever I posted a chapter.
The hovercraft was rolling to a stop when I woke up. My body is protesting with stiffness, so I have to work out the kinks before I can make any fast movements. As I'm making my way down the landing ramp I see Gale, Peeta, Finnick, and Coin. Not that I wanted to see Coin, but now I don't have to hunt her down. I grin slightly at the sight of Coin.
"Katniss! What were you thinking?" Peeta cried.
I walked right up to Peeta, and pulled him into a soul searing kiss. "Nice to see you too, Peeta." I say after I broke the kiss.
"You could have been killed." Gale said.
"Maybe, but I'm no stranger to taking needless risks." I say. In my peripheral vision I see Finnick do a double take. "President Coin, a word."
"Yes, Miss Everdeen." Coin said.
"What will it take for me to make the cut to be on the one of the hovercrafts when we assault the Capitol?" I asked.
"Come see me later in the command center. I will have a list of courses for you to enroll in." Coin said.
"I would like to make a suggestion about our eating arrangements." I say.
"What's that?" she asked.
"The food here keeps you healthy, but I would like about an hour a day to go hunting. Real protein will help build your people for what's to come." I say.
Coin contemplates what I say, but I can tell she was not happy about this. I see her think about what I'm saying, and concedes. "Tomorrow, you and Soldier Hawthorne will have an hour to hunt between twelve and one. If you're even a minute late, I'll revoke the privilege."
"Katniss!" Prim shouts
We all hear an animal howl from my game bag, and then we see Buttercup jump out of my bag and take off racing for Prim. Everybody looks at me, and I see Coin glaring at me. "The cat stays. Hey, who knows? It might even bring some entertainment." I say challenging Coin.
Coin continues to glare at me, but she turns on her heels and exits the hanger. Prim walks up to the group holding that scruffy cat. "I went to find myself. He was just an added bonus." I say. I see Buttercup look at me, and before he could react I hiss at him. Stealing his thunder again, all Buttercup could do was mew apathetically, which everybody got a kick out of.
"If there aren't any other surprises, shall we head down to spec. dev.?" Finnick asked.
"I don't know. I think it's a big surprise that I got my memory back." I say.
"That will be a plus when we raid the Capitol." Gale says, as the four of us head towards the elevator.
"Prim, let mom know that I have returned, will you?" I ask.
I don't get an answer, but I see Prim nod her head and exit the hanger. We all board the elevator and take it down a couple of floors. I dump my gear, and the four of us head to the cafeteria to get breakfast. After breakfast we go our separate ways because Gale, Peeta and Finnick have duties to attend to, or meetings they have to be in. I make my way down to command center to see if Coin has the information necessary for me. As I enter I'm flagged by one of Coin's aides. "President Coin had a meeting to be in, but she left a bracelet with me to give to you." he said.
"Thanks." I said, and he gave me the bracelet.
I secured the bracelet to my right wrist and exited. It took me a few minutes to get the thing to turn on, and when it did I saw that I had a few minutes to make it to my first class, or session. When I walk into the room I see that it's a full class. I see a spare seat in the back, so I slide into it and remain silent for the entirety of the class. It was nothing more than history course. I remember attending a class like this back when District 12 was still running. It was a forty-five minute class, and then I'm off to my next session. To my great relief, it was combat class. I got to work with all sorts of weapons, even guns. I wasn't too keen on working with a gun, they were too big and too noisy, and the weapon lacked the finesse of a bow. I did get some knife practice. The next course I take happens to be a survival course, which I was only in for about two sessions before the instructor got it waived.
Every day, at eleven thirty, Gale and I head to the cafeteria and get food before we head up top side. We stop in spec. dev. and grab our weapons, and then take the elevator as high as when can, and then take the stairs the rest of the way. The first thing we do when he step out the door is take a deep breath of fresh air, and then get down to business. We had been out for about minutes this a particular day making the usual haul, but then we came across a deer.
"You want to call it a day?" Gale whispers.
"Let's see if there aren't any prizes in the traps first." I whisper back.
We move in to take the deer, Gale from the North and I come in from the South. Gale took the first shot, and I took the second one. The deer didn't get to run. The second my arrow made contact, the creature fell over. We moved in quickly to secure the deer before a predator could move in to claim it. We start moving the carcass back to the stairwell, and when we got back to the door way I fumble with the carcass as Gale went back to check the lines. Gale was back in ten minutes after checking the lines with one rabbit.
"You take the lines down?" I ask.
"Yeah," Gale said as we struggled getting the carcass down the stairs. It took us the better part of ten minutes to get the deer to the elevator. The good thing was when we got the deer to the main floor there was a team with a cart waiting to take it off our hands. We head down to spec. dev. to drop off our weapons, and then head back to our bunks to get a shower and get cleaned up. The word around the district is that the invasion of the Capitol is in a matter of weeks. And seeing how tough training is becoming more intense, it shows. One night after dinner I head to the hospital to check in on Johanna. As I enter Johanna's room Prim was exiting, most likely doing her hourly check. I see that Johanna is still out cold. Instead of leaving, I spend time with Johanna. Telling her about training and getting my memory back. I know Johanna isn't the sentimental type, not that I care. I guessing she hasn't had many visitors since she was admitted to the hospital about a month ago.
I stay with Johanna until visiting hours are over, and then I head back to mine and Peeta's room. As I'm stepping into the room Peeta finished taking his shower. He step outs of the bathroom wearing just his sleepwear pants. Peeta didn't realize that I was in the room, so when he turned around I was on him with another soul searing kiss.
"I've missed you." I said.
"I see!" Peeta said. "And I missed you too."
"Hold that thought. Let get cleaned up, and then we can take our time." I say.
We kiss again, and then I slink away to take a shower. I take my time with the shower. I saw the look of hunger in Peeta's eyes, the same look we had when we shared our first kiss. I wish I had the same soap that I had in the Capitol, that way my skin could be soft for Peeta, but I'll just have to make do. I don't think Peeta will mind too much. I think. As I finish my shower, I dry off but I don't bother putting clothes on. I wrap myself up in a towel, and grab my clothes. I exit the shower to see that Peeta is already in bed his clothes in a neatly folded on the chair. I place my clothes next to the chair on the floor, and then turn to Peeta, who had a smile on his face.
"What?" I ask breathlessly.
"Nothing. It's just that… well I thinks it's kind of funny that you would leave you clothes in a pile on the floor, while I folded mine neatly on the chair." He says.
"Ugh! Shut up." I say. I'm afraid of what I'm about to do, but the boy in front me is the only person I can see myself doing this with.
"It's okay Katniss, I'm unsure about this too, but we'll figure it out." Peeta says.
I lose the towel, and Peeta pulls the sheet back. I get into bed with Peeta, and he covers us both. We gaze into each other eyes, and then we consummate our relationship that had been building since the 74th Hunger Games. After we had finished, we lie on our sides, cuddling my back resting against Peeta's chest. We just laid in silence, as Peeta kisses the back of my neck. His kisses were driving me up a wall, and I was getting warmed up for round two.
"Was it good for you?" Peeta asks.
"Actually, I didn't know what to expect. But it doesn't matter because being with you is amazing." I say looking over my shoulder. Peeta kisses my lips, and then returns to my neck. "Okay if you're going to keep that up, we're going to have to go another round."
"Doors open." Peeta says.
I roll over, and we go a second round.
By morning I wake to find Peeta has already left, but he left a note on his pillow. I grabbed the note and opened it. Inside he wrote: Meet me in the cafeteria when you wake up. I look for fresh clothes, brush my teeth, and head to breakfast. I leave without putting my hair up. I was wondering how Peeta was up before me, and then I remembered that he worked in his families bakery. I think back to everything that has happened since the 75th Hunger Games. I was a prisoner of the Capitol for three months. And it has been about a month and a half since Annie, Johanna, and I were rescued form the Capitol. That entire month was rife with not thing but trouble between me and Coin. There's a rumor that before the invasion of the Capitol there will be a wedding. Annie and Finnick's wedding to be exact. Their wedding is tomorrow night, but today is the final exam and my chance to pay President Snow back for all he did to me.
I look at my right arm, and remember the incident that took the limb from me. I quit wearing the sleeve, and the district citizens weren't taken with my prosthetic as much as I thought they would be. I can see the teeth marks from where the wolf had bit into the limb. I enter the cafeteria to see my mom and Prim, Peeta, Gale and his family, Finnick and Annie, and to my great surprise Johanna was out of the hospital. I get my food, and then go join my group. "How you doing Johanna?"
"I've had better days, and it seems that you had quite the adventure since I've been under." Johanna said making light of my solo trek into District 12.
"It was fun, and dangerous, but I managed." I say sitting down next to Peeta. Peeta hooks his ankle with mine, which draws a smile from me as I turn to look at him, and we eat breakfast with our ankles wrapped together. Finnick noticed the shift when Peeta hooked our ankles, but kept it to himself. After breakfast we all spilt to go take our individual test, but Finnick pulls me up short, and waits for everybody to leave. "What?" I ask.
"You and Peeta an item now?" he asks.
"Weren't we an item already?" I ask.
"That's not what I'm asking. More appropriately, did you two consummate your relationship last night." he asks.
I stare at Finnick, my mouth hanging open. How could he have possibly guessed? It's not like it was written across our faces. I think.
"Ah. So "the girl who was on fire," has now become "the woman who was on fire."" he said.
"SH! Keep your voice down! I don't exactly want to broadcast my relationship with Peeta to the entire district. How did you know anyways?" I asked.
"I was a sex slave for the Capitol. So I was able to notice subtle differences in your body language." he said.
"Was it that obvious?" I asked.
"No, but the both of you were extremely relaxed this morning. Just know that when you two get married I want to be there." Finnick says.
"Don't worry. You will be." I say, as we part ways to go to our final exams. My final exam isn't until ten, and its nine forty-five. I don't have a clue what the exam entails, all I know is that I have to make it through at least nine rooms, with each room being harder than the last. By the time I arrive, the person who was scheduled to take their exam before me had just finished.
"If you're ready Miss Everdeen, go ahead and step into the exam chamber." the proctor said.
I step into the chamber, and the door seals behind me. I hear a hiss, and the door in front of me opens. I step into the room. Then the room starts filling with water. I feel my heart begin to start racing as I remember being in a room with filled with water and then the water being electrified. And to my great horror I hear the proctor over the P.A. system say. "This first room is simple you have, to pass all you have to do is cross the room and climb the ladder to the exit. The challenge is that the water will periodically become electrified."
I look up to see the exit is above me. When I hear that there will be a periodic electric current I start to hyperventilate. I try to control my breathing, but I can't. I feel the water level stop at my hips, and then I hear over the P.A. "You may begin."
I freeze momentarily, expecting to get a shocked right then and there, but I didn't. I start to make my way over to the ladder. I feel the hair on the back of my neck stand up, that was when I feel my muscle lockup as the current begins to course through the water. It doesn't have a debilitating effect that I thought it would, so I ride it out. Once I can move again I'm at the ladder in seconds, and start climbing. And to my great horror the water lever begins to rise with me. When the currents comes this time, I lose my mind, and I flash back to my torture in the Capitol. All that could be heard was my screams of anguish throughout the area, and I blackout. I wake up later in the hospital.
"Hey, Katniss." Peeta says, as I begin to wake up.
"How long have I been out?" I ask.
"A little over thirty-six hours." Peeta says.
"The wedding?" I asked.
"It ended about two hours ago." he said.
I begin to cry because I missed Finnick and Annie's wedding. Peeta leaned in and kissed me. "It's okay babe, you'll get through this." he says.
"Peeta, I blacked out because I flashed back to when I was being tortured in the Capitol. I was in a room full of water that became electrified. And on a lighter note, Finnick knows that we went deeper with our relationship last night." I say.
Peeta eyes almost popped out of his head, but he took it in stride. "What did he say?"
"He invited himself and Annie to our wedding." I say.
"He'll most like be in the wedding." Peeta says.
We both laugh and there was a moment of silence. Peeta kisses me again, and then I ask. "How long until you leave?"
"Twenty-five minutes." he says.
"See you when you get back." I say.
Peeta doesn't say anything. He just kiss me good-bye, and then leaves. After he leaves I cry myself to sleep. A couple of hours later I wake up, but actually I was put under at some point because I'm feeling sluggish.
"Kat…s. Katn… Ever…en. Are you wake… niss Everdeen?" a voice asks.
"Yeah, what do… do you want?" I asks as my eyes were forced open and a light was flashed in them.
"Good, you're awake. I've been given clearance to let you join the invasion of the Capitol." the voice said.
The voice didn't have clearance to send me to the Capitol. It was Coin. And she was sending me to my death. "Right. Where is my gear?" I ask.
Before I could react I felt something hit my chest, it was my uniform. As I'm getting dressed I start to regain my senses, and I realize that I'm not in District 13. I was on a hovercraft somewhere between District 13 and the Capitol
"Oh, crap!" I think.
"Your weapons are next to you. And do me a favor will you."
"Yeah, what's that?" I ask.
"Please get yourself killed so I won't have to do it later." Coin said.
I sling my quiver over my shoulder, sheath a few knives, and then grab my bow. "No promises." I say and then walk out of the room before Coin could respond. As I enter the cargo bay, I see that the hovercraft has already arrived at the Capitol.