Chapter Eleven

The sky was set ablaze with hues of tangerine, reds, pinks and purples, like juice mix dissolved in a glass of water. Clouds that rolled by were dashed with dusty pinks, like cotton candy. Silhouettes of birds dotted the sky as they flew home to roost. As the sun dipped lower, the air cooled and the buildings around them darkened. They hurried out of the Hob, the waning light nipping at their heels. Only the glow of a stray oil lamp here and there lit their way back to the Merchant Market amidst the dark alley ways.

Stray clouds dotted the sky between the buildings, making shadows as they stilled above them. A slight breeze blew by making Katniss shiver slightly as they quickly strode towards their destination. The wagon that trailed behind Katniss, gently bumped up and down on the uneven gravel making the goats shift now and again. Surprisingly, the goats didn't dare try to escape and just huddled closer to one another as they sped down the back alleys here and there.

It didn't take them long to head back to the Merchant Market through their use of shady shortcuts. When they walked by the back door of the bakery, Peeta paused. He chewed his lip and drew his hand through his hair as he looked back and forth from the bakery and Katniss.

Katniss immediately noted his absence and turned back. Squinting in the dimming light, she quirked a brow, "Peeta?"

A sheepish look lavished his face, his lips slightly tilted upwards, as he scratched at his cheek, "Ah. I want to come to Prim'a birthday party too. I just have to nab something from the bakery. Is that okay?" Hopping from one foot to the other, he looked more nervous than when they were in Shady Jim's store. This made Katniss inwardly chuckle. He was really weird sometimes.

She shot him a reassuring grin before lightly patting his shoulder, "Sure. I'll wait here." The unspoken 'I won't leave you', hung in the air between them, but Peeta's surging smile seemed to indicate that he understood her silent message.

With a deft nod, he turned and threw over his shoulder, "I'll be right back."

He surprised her, once again, by deftly climbing up an oak tree and into an adjacent window that led into the bakery's upstairs apartment. Blinking in surprise, Katniss silently wondered, 'How'd he learn how to climb trees?'

Peeta moved up the tree with a familiar gait of having done this more than a couple times. He kind of reminded her of a squirrel at the moment, inwardly she giggled at the thought. Did she look like a squirrel when she climbed trees to hunt for eggs? Probably.

He deftly swung open the window, and popped into the room with nary a sound before clicking the window closed behind him. The light flickered on revealing two shadows. Muted voices could be heard through the closed window and it seemed like something was passed between the two shadows. Just as fast as the exchange took, the light flickered off. Peeta popped open the window, before carefully climbing back onto the branch and down the tree.

This entire thing seemed rather odd to her; seeing him do that. Climbing trees. Breaking into places. Sneaking around. These were things she'd only assumed Seam kids knew how to do. It was a silly stupid thought on her part. Why wouldn't other people know how to do those things too?

Peeta came back down with a worn green backpack slung onto his back. He beamed at her as he noted her curious expression. Before she could voice her question, Peeta slipped off his backpack and unzipped it. He gently took a familiar looking pale pink box. She spotted the telltale white text scrawled across the pink box that announced it was from the Mellark Bakery, all their boxed cakes did.

She could hazard a guess as to what it was, but doubt crept through the edges of her heart. Katniss bit on her bottom lip, her eyes darted to his, "What is it?"

Peeta's cheeks dimpled as his eyes danced while he gently lifted the box's lid, "Ta da! It's a triple chocolate cake for Prim. You know. The same one she keeps eyeing when you guys stop by the front store window. I even made sure that this one had those chocolate flowers. A lot of little kids love those."

Her face heated up, painting her tanned skin red. She gulped as an embarrassed look pinched her face, "Peeta- Ahh. You didn't have to." How long had he noticed them staring at their pastries? Were they that obvious in their want? He couldn't know how much this meant to her... Could he?

Katniss did her best to calm her raging heart, and the heat that wouldn't come off of her face. She had to compose herself. She reminded herself that she should just act naturally. There was no reason as to why his actions should make her heart flutter and her stomach roll. This was normal between friends. Right? Right.

Inwardly, she rolled her eyes at her emotions, 'Ugh. I'm too young for this. Come on. Reel it in. Calm down.'

With a shake of his head, he threw her a careless smile before gently putting the cake back into his back pack, "Don't be silly, it's a gift. Besides, I wanted to."

Gulping down the denial that this was more than that, and that it was far too expensive a gift, she murmured, "Thanks. Where did you get it, anyway?"

As they walked steadily away from the bakery, Peeta hummed and looked up at the sky, "Bought it from Rye, even though I helped make it earlier this morning. Even if my mom found out, she can't get mad since the cake's already been paid for. No harm. No foul." He winked at her and laughed at his joke. His laugh seemed a little hollow and forced.

Katniss didn't get what was so funny, but her cheeks dimpled anyway. With a boneless shrug she glanced at him, "Huh. Thanks again. Come on. We have to make it back before Prim and my mom get there."

Her steps slowly sped up as they trudged towards the pathway that lead to the Seam. The waning light streaked through the boughs of the trees that lined the pathway home. Twigs and grass gave way to their hastened foot steps. The sounds of the town faded behind them as the smell of soot drew closer.

Peeta valiantly kept in step with her, despite his breaths coming out harder, "Why?" His arms swung at his sides, in tandem with their quick strides.

She blinked and noted that he was slightly out of breath. Katniss adjusted her pace and slowed slightly, "Oh, you'll see. If you thought Shady Jim's place was cool, well... I know what I did wasn't on par, but it may just be as neat." She snorted out a laugh. At the very least, she thought that his expression might be similar when he sees the house her magic helped craft.

He beamed at her, his curiosity and excitement laid bare on his face. Sincerity dripped in his voice, "I can't wait."

"Yeah? Not weirded out?" Katniss muttered, a seed of doubt pinched her heart. She could still recollect telling others of her magic in her last lives... It always seemed okay before it exploded in her face. She could feel his sincerity though. It didn't feel like it was just a show of words before a betrayal.

A hesitant look loomed in his eyes before Peeta shrugged, "I mean... A little, but not in a bad way."

Katniss cocked an eyebrow at that, "Mhmm?"

An unreadable look flitted across his face before he cleared his throat, "Ah- Hmm... It's not something that I thought was possible, but the Hob seems just as fantastical. Not to mention Shady Jim and his store..." Peeta shoved his hands into his pockets and looked away from her for a moment. Embarassment coated his face.

Her lips slightly tilted upwards at his admission. She gently bumped shoulders with him while they walked, her eyes twinkling, "Well, when you put it like that. I get it."

Peeta's embarrassment slipped off his face, a content smile took its place. He was both excited and a little nervous to seem more magic than what he'd seen today. Peeta thought he was doing rather well taking it all in though.

A rather tall teenager with dark hair, grey eyes, and tanned skin drew closer to them. Beside the boy, a young woman with the same coloring and similar features walked side by side with him. Their worn clothes, and wary looks seemed stuck onto their faces, which clearly told Peeta that they were from the Seam. What he couldn't figure out was why Katniss's shoulders seemed to tense at the sight of them.

She could tell who they were a mile away. Katniss had always been good at identifying animals, plants, and people. Her jaw clenched as Gale and her aunt Hazelle came into view while they hurried by.

Before they could completely pass one another, her aunt tugged at her cousin's sleeve and made them pause. With a deep sigh, Gale turned around with is mother and called out, "Hey, Catnip. Wait a sec."

Katniss and Peeta paused when they heard Gale call out. The goats bleated at the sudden stop in their journey. Both animals received approving looks from Gale and his mother.

Katniss took in a deep breath which helped to center her some. She turned to look at them, tilting her head to the side she curtly nodded, "Gale. Miss Hazelle."

Her cousin seemed to twitch at the sight of them. Even though he hid it well, she had seen the flash of disdain that had flickered through his face at the sight of Peeta. Stupid Gale. Her aunt's expression seemed unreadable in the waning light. However, she figured that her aunt wasn't too receptive the idea of a Seam kid and Merchant kid hanging out with one another with how her body language seemed to scream uncomfortable.

Katniss's aunt flinched and Gale huffed as guilt coated his voice, "Don't be a snot. Say happy birthday to Prim for me and my mom. Kay?"

Peeta tugged her closer into him causing Gale to glare and aunt Hazelle to look even more wary than she already was. The laundry pail that her aunt tucked into her side made Katniss pause.

Her brow furrowed as thoughts blitzed through her mind, 'I didn't like they way they thought they were better than us. I didn't like the looks they sent Peeta. Or how they never offered to help us like family should. But, I couldn't help but like my aunt Hazelle. Just a smidge. I respected her at the very least.'

The explosion that killed Katniss's father and her aunt Hazelle's husband, left her aunt with three boys and a baby due any day. Less than a week after that, aunt Hazelle gave birth. Not long after that, she was out hunting the streets for work. At least that's what Katniss had heard murmured here and there while they walked around the Hob today. That place was rife with gossip; it was where it bred and spread.

The laundry pail made sense. Her aunt couldn't get work at the mines, not with a baby to look after. However, if she managed to get laundry from some of the merchants in town, that would work. At fourteen, Gale, the eldest of the kids, would become the main supporter of the family, just like Katniss. He was already signed up for tesserae, which entitled them to a meager supply of grain and oil in exchange for his entering his name extra times in the drawing to become a tribute.

On top of that, her cousin was a skilled trapper, no matter how much Katniss thought she was better. Just hunting and the tesserae wouldn't be enough enough to keep a family of five from becoming skin and bones though. They would need aunt Hazelle to work. She was probably working her fingers to the bone on that in addition, would make sure they wouldn't outright starve this year.

Her heart clenched. It was better than the zombified way her mother, this body's mother, fell after the mining accident. She was heartened to see that her aunt was determined that she and her kids would live, and not just survive on meager scraps. This was probably why aunt Hazelle and Gale, the boys; twelve-year-old Rory and ten-year-old Vick, and the baby; three month old Posy, wouldn't have to succumb to starvation like the other people in the Seam this year. They wouldn't slowly turn skeletal before just dropping like some of the people that littered the streets at night. Drunk on their despair.

It made resolve bloom in her chest. They might not have been the best people, but at least they didn't pretend that Katniss and her family didn't exist. They weren't like her mother's brother. There was at least a bit of tolerance in their relationship. This was the least she could do. With a slow nod she replied, "Sure. Will do."

Gale gave her a curt nod in return before swiftly striding away, not even waiting of his mother. His boots stomped down the already flattened grass they'd gone through earlier.

Aunt Hazelle hesitated before throwing her a sad facsimile of a smile, "I'm sorry, for what it's worth, Katniss." Her hands twitched and her leg seemed to want to bring her closer to her niece, but something seemed to hold her back. What? Katniss didn't know.

A tight small smile upturned her lips, "I'm sorry too." Both women stalled a little too long for their companions.

Peeta let out a cough, "It's getting chilly. We better go." His tone was conversational, but she knew what he was trying to do. The air between her aunt and her had gotten awkward.

Peeta and Katniss joined hands and turned away. They left as though they were at risk of getting burned from staying in their previous spots for too long. She didn't dare look back at what her aunt and cousin thought of her exit. She couldn't. She just couldn't.

When they were far enough away, Peeta hesitantly hedged, "A friend?" He wanted to comfort her, but at the same time a burning feeling spurned in his chest. It was unpleasant and made his hands clench.

She chewed on her inner cheek for a moment before quietly answering, "Not quite. Do you know him?" She didn't bother asking about her aunt. Aunt Hazelle didn't really head in and out of the Seam before this. That's what her husband and her cousin Gale did before the accident.

"Not really. I heard the girls talk about him a lot though. You know. Here and there at school. I thought he was your cousin, or something," his eyes darted to her from the corner of his eye before he looked away. He had another one of those unreadable looks on his face again.

She nodded as their shoes crunched twigs and leveled the long grass they walked through, "Yeah. He's my cousin. The lady I called Miss Hazelle was, no... Is, my paternal aunt. We're not exactly on the best of terms." That was putting it lightly. Just that earlier action alone, was an olive branch she didn't think would happen till she was older. Much older, if she were to be honest.

Peeta nodded, his shoulder's relaxed as a happy look made his eyes spark back to life, "Must be better now that he said to say happy birthday to Prim though, right?"

"I guess," she shrugged, observing him carefully. She looked up at the sky and sighed, "He looked guilty though. You gave me and Prim gifts. Ones without guilt. I prefer that." It was just better that way in her opinion.

Peeta raised his eyebrows as if this was news. He pursed his lips before he let out a low whistle, "Really? And I'm fairly sure I gave you whatever gifts your inferring to because I like you and your sister. That and my dad likes Prim, and you. I think he wishes he had a daughter instead of a house full of boys." A shadow shuttered across his face after that comment.

The idea that either of the two Seam girls might have ever been discussed, around the dinner table at the bakery fire no less, even just in passing in Peeta's house gave her a start. It must have been when the mother was out of the room. She hated Prim and Katniss.

"He knew your mother when they were kids," Peeta murmured. Katniss felt like Peeta was a million miles away when he said that. He gazed up through the leaves above them, up to the darkening sky. The brightest stars were already peaking out from the curtain that sheltered them from the day.

It was yet another surprising thing about Peeta, but it was probably true. She coughed into her hand as a thoughtful look trapized onto her face, "Oh. Yeah. My mom mentioned that she grew up in town." It seemed impolite to say that she never really mentioned the baker except to compliment his bread. Perhaps there was more to that story then them just knowing each other as children. She didn't really know whether or not she wanted to look into it. Would it be worth knowing?

At the last little bit of the way there, Katniss beamed at him and pulled him along behind her as she ran ahead towards their destination. She was kind of excited at the prospect of him seeing the culmination of her hard work from the other day. She completely overlooked the redness that painted Peeta's face when exertion hit him.

They paused just a few feet from a rundown ramshackle shack of house. She held him back and hummed, "We're at the outer wards of my house." The goats bleated now and again, at the sudden change in pace. If she could speak animal, she'd have known they were quite irritated with their new master.

Peeta tilted his head and let out a panted breath, "So why'd we rush over here so fast? It doesn't look like either your mom or Prim are here." He looked around, his breaths slowing as his heart calmed. It no longer felt like it was going to beat right out of his chest.

She didn't make a peep before he felt a sudden stab on the hand that'd been holding Katniss's. He let out a yelp and yanked back his appendage, "What the-?!"

Katniss shot him an apologetic smile, "Sorry. Just needed a drop." She held the droplet, floating, on the tip of her fore finger.

A wary look overcame his face, as exasperation huffed out of him, "Of my blood? Really?" He didn't really think they'd progressed so far into their relationship that he would need to shed blood for her yet. What was next? Sweat and tears? Did magic have a use for those too?

She tilted her head, making her braid fall against her chest. Katniss hummed, "Mhmm. Lets you go in and out, and see past the wards." With that, she blew on the droplet letting it dissolve against a golden barrier that appeared for just a moment. Triumph shined in her eyes as it glowed blue before fading away. It worked.

Peeta raised his brow and looked around, "What ward-"

Suddenly, the hovel in front of them transformed before his very eyes. His eyes widened into saucers, as his mouth formed a little 'o', "Ohh. Oh my."

Katniss's grin stretched from ear to ear as she watched a familiar wonderment paint across Peeta's face.

Instead of the run down shanty house that he'd passed by before when he'd hung out with Katniss the other day, Peeta saw a something right out of a Capitol Magazine for a country cottage. A white picket fence encircled the house, while thick square columns held up a scalloped shingled roof over the front porch. Grey white siding covered the house, and white picture windows hung beside a muted green front door. And a single hung window sat above the porch roof, making him wonder how there could be a second story to this house.

He shrugged off that thought. The answer was obviously magic.

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AN: Thank you to everyone that read, favorited, followed, and/or reviewed this story! A double thank you to the people that left reviews. You guys are spectacular!

Kikari no segaiu: Thank you so much for all of your reviews! I appreciate that you took the time to leave one for each chapter. It's overwhelming, but it a good way. c: I'm glad that you find each chapter to be an easy read. I made them short in this manner because I wanted them to be kind of bite sized and enjoyable, kind of like a bite sized brownie.

Anon: Thank you! I hope that you liked this chapter as well.

You May Call My Lord: Yes, I do, but not so much in the first chapter. The bits of magic sprinkled in the story are a bit from Bewitched, Harry Potter, and from just what I imagine what magic could do.

Homanis: I certainly did! I'm glad that you've caught that.

TwinK21: Thank you! There was certainly a nod to Harry Potter in this chapter. Peeta and Katniss are only just 11 in this before the time skip. So they're just teetering between childhood and the oncoming wave of puberty. I'm not sure if I've captured that correctly with them.

Yes and no. It's a store that pops up for people with any slight traces of magic in them, or for the truly desperate. To those without magic and desperation, it just looks like an over sized booth with nothing of interest for them.

I hope that you liked this chapter as well! c:

CrazyWithABook: You're welcome! c:

Luthein Faye: I'm glad you liked it. I hope that you liked this chapter as well. c:

Jadeorion: I'm happy that you love it so far! c: