A/N
Oh my god. We reached 10,000 views! To say the least, I can't stop smiling. You readers are literally the best ever and I never ever want this to end! I am amazed with the overwhelming kindness from all of you! Please keep reviewing and reading! You are all the best! I honestly can't say I always thought this story was very good or even at times felt like stopping, but you guys supported me so much, I just had to! And it was worth it.
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Peeta gets home around 11 PM the next day. I am still awake and lying in bed when he comes in.
"Peeta!" I whisper, jumping up and throwing my arms around him. "That speech..."
"I know," he whispers back. I smile and kiss him hard. We are sleeping close together that night, fending off the nightmares and putting each other back to sleep when one awakes screaming. But by the next morning, I am more rested than ever. Haymitch is at breakfast and gives me a knowing glance. He saw the speech too I guess. I just keep buttering my toast and give him a small nod. It's not icy between us I would say, but it's something. He understands but I know he still wanted her dead. It'll be hard to forgive him for that.
Peeta tells me Gale wants to go hunting and when I ask him why Gale wouldn't ask me himself, Peeta just shrugs. I find Gale down in the training center, soldier gear on and bow in hand.
"This is hunting?" I ask, glancing down at my boring yellow shirt and black leggings.
"For you," he says, "Since you made your no killing vow."
"Is that a problem?" I retort.
"No," he says and I can tell he means it. "I happen to think you're right."
"You do?"
"Yeah, I think if she'd have let herself live, it'd be fine. No one has figured out how she even got a gun in there."
"She's sly," I answer, grabbing my bow from its place on the wall and shooting a target without bothering to position myself. I shoot another, then grab my father's hunting jacket and put it on. It feels more right. I shoot a couple more before Gale speaks again.
"She might've never wanted to live," he says, "Maybe she just felt she had to do her grandfather's last request and then she would be too broken to move on without him. She had no other family."
"And how do you know that?"
"They did a whole background check after she died."
"Why didn't I hear about it?" I shoot again.
"No idea."
"They never tell me anything!"
"I know." I set down my bow and watch him shoot for a while, silently fuming. Do they still think I'm mentally unstable? I know I'm fine. Peeta knows I'm fine. That should be enough, except for the fact that we still both get traumatizing nightmares. I sigh and twirl my finger around on the table, bored with myself.
Until this happens.
"Miss Everdeen, you need to come upstairs!" A guard is at the door, face sweaty and gun in hand. "You too Soldier Hawthorne!"
"What's-?" I start to say, but Gale mutes me with a shake of his head. We keep our weapons close, running up flights and flights of stairs until the guard leads us to the sitting room balcony.
"Look," he says. In the square below us are dozens of Peacekeepers, all chanting something. I gasp as I realize what they're saying.
"Vanessa Snow is a threat."
A/N
Sorry for the quick chapter, but I am running low on ideas and I need some time to think out what is going to happen next. As always, thanks for reading! PM me if you have any ideas for the story as I desperately need them.
