I head to the bathroom to brush my teeth, and take a bath. By the time I finished getting dressed there was a knock at my front door. I see the sun had set while I was taking my bath. I open the door to see Katniss standing in front of me wearing only a pair of pajama pants and a t-shirt. "Come in." I said.
Katniss made her way into the kitchen, so I shut the door and made followed her. "What did you and Peeta talk about?" she asked.
"We discussed that there is a strong possibility that the Capitol could rig the reaping for the Hunger Games tributes. What are you doing here anyways?" I asked.
"That's not important. Why would the Capitol rig the reaping?" she asks.
"To keep it interesting. Silence opposition in the districts. You guess is as good as mine, and as I said earlier you two should be mindful of the kissing you do in the square." I say.
"We've kissed freely for the past year and half, to two years." she says.
"Then I would suggest that you keep your wits about you. You may have inadvertently painted a target on your backs." I say.
I noticed that the temperature had a dropped a couple more degrees since Katniss had showed up. "Kai. Do you miss working with the rebels?" she asks.
"No. I'm in exile because I pissed the wrong person off." I say.
"How does someone like you have a brief run in with a victor, then go on to be a rebel fighter? Then after it's all said and done you find yourself here. How does that happen?" she asks.
"Some details aren't worth fussing over. Trust me." I say.
"That just doesn't make any sense." she continues.
"Not everything does. Not everything has too. You'll figure that out after you have been in this game for a while." I say.
There's a silence after I finish speaking. Katniss just stares at me for a time, getting lost in my physique. "You really do look like Sasha Pellegrino." Katniss says with tears streaming down her face.
"I'm pretty sure Sasha would prefer to be here too, but you're stuck with me." I say as I wrap my arms around Katniss and allow to cry herself out. I, as if the brotherly side taking over, kissed Katniss gently on her forehead. "Go home, Katniss. Nothing will change the fact that Sasha wanted to protect you. I'll just do it in his place."
"Good night." Katniss says, and then exits my home.
"Night." I said as I was shutting the door.
Come morning Katniss, Peeta and I were in the woods training. My siblings have become competent in their handling of a blade that they both wanted to challenge me at the same time. I was up for a challenge, and I needed to test their mettle. I grab two sticks, and begin the sparring match. Katniss charged me first and attacked me, which I was able to block. Peeta follows up and I realize that I might have to put my back to a tree because I lose sight of Katniss. I roll of the way as Katniss was coming up behind me to strike at my unguarded back. I come out of the roll and spin on my heels effectively taking my back out of the equation. Peeta and Katniss did all that they could to get me to move, but I held my ground.
"Let's head back. It's getting late." I said looking at the position of the sun in the sky. It's going on three o'clock. When we get back to in the district Gale was heading towards the fence. I nod at Katniss for her to follow Gale. Peeta gets a little upset, but walks away. I noticed the look on his face when Katniss left with Gale. "Relax, Peeta. Katniss isn't going to run off with Gale and leave you behind." I say.
"Whatever." Peeta says but doesn't stop walking.
"Hey." I say.
"What?" he asks as he turns back to look at me. There was a moment of silence. All we did was just stare at each other.
"Why do you think Katniss is going to abandon you, and go to be with Gale?" I ask.
"I don't know, but Gale isn't exactly someone to be overlooked." He says.
"Katniss doesn't strike me as the type to walk away from something that she wants." I say. Then all of a sudden I realize something. How did they end up dating anyways? I think. "What happened?"
"What?" he asked.
"How did you two end up together?" I asked.
"Some time after Katniss' dad was killed, I saw Katniss out behind my parent's bakery. She looked to be in bad shape, and was on the verge of collapsing. I burnt a couple loaves of bread to help Katniss." he said.
I guess that would be enough to have Katniss seek Peeta out. I think. "Don't worry about Katniss, Peeta. I'm surprised Katniss came to you. If that had been Te— if that had me been in Katniss shoes, I probably would have gone insane after the help." I say. Peeta shot me a funny look when I cut myself off, wondering who I was talking about.
"Who?" he asked.
"A skeleton in the closet. I wouldn't worry about it." I say.
"Talk to you later Kai." Peeta said.
"No doubt." I said.
Peeta headed back into town as I headed home. After they had finished hunting, Gale and Katniss were relaxing by a brook. Gale had a serious to question, but wasn't sure if he should. Then again, seeing as how Katniss still associates with him, what does he have to lose? "Katniss, a question." he said.
Katniss took a few moments before asking. "If I wasn't with Peeta, would I be with you?" she asks.
Gale nodded. Katniss took a few moment before answering. She has never looked at Gale as a love interest. Not that Gale wouldn't be. I may be dating Peeta, but I'm not blind. Katniss thinks. "Honestly, the idea of dating you has crossed my mind. Could we date? Yes we could, but Peeta and I have been through so much together." she says.
"You feel like you're getting your old life back with Kai?" he asked.
"Kai is so much like Sasha its frightening." she says.
"What do you think would make Sasha run from the Capitol?" Gale asked.
"No clue. I don't think Kai got that out of Sasha." she said. Gale looked into the sky and saw that it was getting late. "We should head in." Gale said, distracted.
"I know my answer isn't what you wanted, but it's the truth. If I was being honest, I don't know if I could date you. If the relationship doesn't work, I'd be hard pressed to find another hunting partner. Which is crude, but I don't want to lead you on." Katniss said.
"Thanks." Gale said with a smile.
Gale and Katniss only had a couple of squirrels, a rabbit, and a few berries. The made their rounds, and then head home. Even though they got the money from the Peacekeepers last year, they're trying to spend it wisely. After Katniss finished her rounds, she entered the square to see if Peeta needed any help, but the kids were elsewhere at the moment. Katniss feels like doting on Prim, so she stops by a shop and buys a bag of peppermints and then heads home. Something about what I said makes Katniss stop just before exiting the square. She turns and scans the square for anything out of the ordinary. The only thing that she notices more and more the past year is that Haymitch has been make a few more rounds, every other week, but even that is becoming normal. Katniss has sense of foreboding in the back of her mind, and usually when this happens something very bad happens. First it was Sasha, then it was her dad. She has no idea when it will come true, but it usually does. There's no point worrying about it at the moment, so Katniss heads home and gives the sweets to Prim, who is ecstatic to see the treat.
The following May, Katniss was looking to buy a present for Prim. She was in the square with Gale for about an hour when she saw a goat. "Gale. I want that goat." Katniss says. The goat would be a nice touch. Another pet, but it could also supplement their income. Gale was unsure about the animal, from this distance it looked like it was injured.
"The creature looks injured. Let's take a closer look." Gale says.
Gale and Katniss approached the goat, and as Gale suspected the creature had an injured shoulder.
"Leave the creature be." The man said.
Nobody knew the man's name who owned the goats, they just dubbed him Goat Man. You could tell from his disability that he worked in the mines, but since he bought a few goats before he quit working the mines, he was able to make a living raising goats.
"Just browsing." Gale said.
"Well browse faster, because she's going to the butcher. Hardly anybody will buy her milk, and if they do it's at half price." The Goat Man said.
"What's she paying for her?" Katniss asks.
"Stick around and find out." Goat Man said. Just then the butcher walked up, and a few seconds later I walk up behind Katniss and Gale. "Good thing you showed up, the girl had her eye on the goat."
"Not if she spoken for." Katniss says.
Rooba looked Katniss up and down, then her eyes looked past Katniss and Gale to me, and then at the goat frowning.
"She's not. Look at that shoulder. I bet half the carcass is too rotten even for sausage." Rooba said.
"What?" The man said. "We had a deal."
"We had a deal for an animal with a few teeth marks. Not that thing. Sell her to the girl if she's stupid enough to take her." Rooba said.
As she marched off, I caught her winking at Katniss.
The Goat Man was mad, but still wanted to get the goat off his hands. It took them half an hour to agree on a price. Quite the crowd had gather by then to hand out opinions. Katniss checked how much money she had, and saw that she was a little short. That was until she saw a hand reach forward and lay a coin in my hand. Katniss turned saw that I had given her the last coin. I could see tears in her eyes. It was an excellent deal if the goat lived; Katniss would've been robbed if she died. People took sides in the argument, but Katniss took the goat.
Gale picked up the goat, as Katniss turned and gave me a big hug. "You don't know how much that meant to me." Katniss said.
"If I had to guess it has something to do with Prim." I said.
"And you would have guess correctly." Katniss said wiping tears.
"I do what I can to help. I wouldn't worry about the coin. I can always get more from my people." I say.
Katniss stopped and bought a pink ribbon and tied it around the goats' neck, and the three of us go home to see Prim's reaction to the goat. It was nighttime when we got back to Katniss' house. And to our great surprise, Prim starts crying and laughing at the same time when she sees the goat. Gale and I were about to leave, but Mrs. Everdeen's holds me back. Both Prim and Mrs. Everdeen mix some medicine and get the goat to drink them. After the goat finished drinking the medicine Prim went to get a bath, change into pajamas, and then came back to interact with Lady. The goat hasn't been in the house twenty-four hours and it already has a name. I think. Mrs. Everdeen pulls me outside onto the porch and shuts the door. We just stare at each other for a few minutes, and from the in her eyes I can tell she's about to ask me a question that is painful. "Do you have contacts in the Capitol?" she asked.
"Yeah." I said not sure where she was taking this conversation.
"How readily can you get in touch with them?" she asks.
"It's usually about a week before I hear from my contact. Why are you asking?" I ask.
"I want you to get in touch with them and tell them to keep an eye out." she said.
"For Prim and Katniss name?" I asked.
"And Peeta, too." she said.
"Peeta?" I asked.
"I may not leave the house that often, but I know Katniss is seeing Peeta. I know that wistful look I see coming from my daughter. I even saw them from you five years ago." she said.
"I'll send the message." I say after a few moments hesitation. I won't deny Mrs. Everdeen her request, but I don't want to prove myself correct. I don't want to prove that the Capitol choose me and Tessa because we had a love relationship. It's a stretch, but anything is possible with the Capitol. I think.
"Thank you." Mrs. Everdeen said and opened the door to go back. Before she closed the door I saw Lady lick Prim's cheek.
In the morning I send word to Cross that I want to meet with Cinna again in the Silver Falcon when he is available. A week later I get a response. Cinna said he won't be available until after the reaping in three weeks, was the message I received from Cross. I was stepping out of my house when Mrs. Everdeen was walking up the stairs. "What can I do for you?" I asked.
"Have you seen Katniss and Peeta?" she asked.
"This is the first time I left the house today." I said looking up into the sky. I see that the sun is moving into the afternoon hours. At that moment Peeta came walking up. "Kai." Peeta said.
"Peeta." I greeted.
"Peeta have you seen Katniss?" Mrs. Everdeen asked.
"Last time I saw her she was in the square buying supplies for a birthday party for one of the kids we watch." Peeta said.
"Good." Mrs. Everdeen said letting out a sigh of relief.
"Something wrong?" Peeta asks.
"No. It's just that Katniss has been staying out later than she's supposed to." Mrs. Everdeen said eyeing Peeta purposefully. If Peeta caught the look that Mrs. Everdeen just shot him, he isn't letting on, but I can tell from his demeanor he isn't missing the motherly worry that was radiating off of her. "If I see her I'll let her know that you were looking for her." Peeta says and then walks away hurriedly.
"Kids. I say after Peeta left.
"You were a kid at one time, too." she said.
"Tessa and I weren't out all hours of the night." I say like a defiant, petulant child, and Mrs. Everdeen laughs at my antics. "On a serious note, I will be able to talk to my contact in the Capitol after the reaping in a few weeks."
"Thank you." Mrs. Everdeen said and then left.
A few weeks later the reaping came and went with two more children I didn't know being reaped. Though from what Mrs. Everdeen said that the girl was a cousin of one of the children I used to babysit years ago. The night of the reaping, I got prepared to go to the Capitol. Put on my fancy clothes, put in my contacts, and then I board the hovercraft. In a few hours' time, I've landed and made my way to the bar. I arrive to see both Cinna and Vivian waiting for me. "Vivian it's so nice to see you again." I say as I take a seat in the booth.
"It's good to see you Kai, or is it," Vivian began to say, but finished in a whisper. "Sasha Pellegrino?"
"It would be wise not to say that name out loud." I say sternly. "It may get you killed."
"But I'm alive because of you, and I was saved by a victor that's rumored to have been killed." She whispered.
"It's just a precaution." Cinna said. "What did you want to meet with me about?"
"I have a concerned mother in my district that caught wind of my conversation with her daughter, and her boyfriend. I was wonder if you could send a message to Plutarch to keep his eyes out for a few names." I say.
"What were these conversations about?" he asked.
"I, hypothetically speaking, said that it's not inconceivable for the Capitol to rig the reaping to make the Games more interesting." I said.
"That's an interesting theory… it looks like we have company." he said.
My heart hits the floor. I begin to think that the Capitol has found out about my little charade, but to my great relief, and great excitement, it turns out to be Lian Shi. "Long time no see stranger." Lain said joining the group.
"Long time no see indeed." I said.
A part me feels affection for Lian Shi that I haven't felt since Tessa, so when she snuggles into me I wrap an arm around Lian's shoulders. We spend a few hours talking, and then we call it a night. "We'll talk later." I tell Cinna.
"Meet me here in two days, and I will bring Plutarch with me." Cinna says.
"Okay." I said. I watch as Cinna and Vivian walk off and I'm left standing with Lian Shi. "I have very little dealings in the Capitol, so maybe you could show me around."
"I'd love to. But if you don't mind I want to go home and get some rest." She says around a yawn.
"Lead the way." I say.
Lian Shi and I walk back to her place, as we go I offer her my elbow remembering some Capitol etiquette that Nikki taught me six years ago. Lain Shi takes my elbow, kissing my cheek lightly.