I fall back into the water once again, and I don't feel so scared.

In fact, I feel sort of free.

The water drowns out all other sounds, and the clear silence fills my head, saving me from all the thoughts and sounds outside that threaten to enter my mind. It's a glorious, peaceful silence, exactly what I need.

A few more dunks under the cool surface, and Rory deems me comfortable enough in the water to go deeper, and so he pulls me out with him and Gale and they teach me strokes.

I learn to float better, and I discover that swimming is exactly like I imagined flying to be.

I drift across the water, slowly letting it carry me where it may. Rory's hand fits perfectly in mine as he urges me, slowly pulling me across the surface of the lake; "Okay, now kick your feet."

The water takes away all the weight, the pressure.

If I could, I would save this moment and live in it forever.

My hands and feet coordinate in time, and I learn to glide through, cutting the surface of the water with my hands. I bob up and down at Rory's instruction, and embrace the moments of silence, mixing with the moments of Rory's calm voice teaching me what to do, what to move, where to go.

But my daydreaming of flying and swimming, and the perfection of the cool lake are suddenly broken when Hazelle's voice drifts down and my mother calls us up to the clearing.

Rory and I linger together in the shallows for just a moment longer, washing the remaining soot off, scrubbing violently at ourselves.

Rory has a large patch right between his eyes that he can't seem to get, and so I laugh and reach up to rub away at his face, and he laughs, shying away from my touch.

He reaches down and splashes water up at me in reply, so I can't help but return the favor. And so for a minute, we're stuck in a small war of flying water and laughter, until he grabs me up in his arms and holds me tight to his chest.

"I'm glad we're okay." He whispers into my ear.

My arms squeeze around him tighter and I don't want to let him go. "Me too." I whisper back.

He gently presses his lips on mine, and we share another soft kiss before Hazelle's voice breaks through our moment.

"Come on you two, now." She orders.

We run up the slope quickly, joining Gale, my mother, Bristel and Hazelle in front of the house.

"Okay, so we know we've got to go. But the question is where," my mother starts. "Gale had some ideas!" Bristel pipes up. "Why don't you share 'em buddy?" he winks.

Gale shoots Bristel a dangerous look.

"Well," he coughs, clearing his throat. "We need to head as far from 12 as we can, because you can bet the Capitol will clear the woods looking for survivors. That's directly West of us, so I say we head East. I don't really know what'll happen after that though… you know, in the long term."

"Didn't Madge say anything to you when she told you to run?" Hazelle questions.

Gale's face darkens.

"No," he says sadly. "Just that we will be found by the right people," he pauses. "Eventually."

"And you trust that?"

"I don't have any reason not to Mom. You have any better ideas? You know something I don't?"

Hazelle nods, sighing. "Fine," she agrees. "We'll head East, Gale will lead, and we'll try to find a good spot for camping along the way, yes?"

We all agree, and pack up the bags, emptying out the small concrete space in a matter of minutes.

And so we're off.

I say a silent goodbye to the beautiful clearing, and move forward with my newly expanded family.

We walk for hours.

Gale hunts along the way, running up ahead and shooting squirrels, and the rest of us all wander through the woods at a steady pace, stopping here and there to drink and snack and to shift Posy around from person to person.

As we walk, I listen to the calls of the Mockingjays that fly from tree to tree, filling my ears with their sweet calls.

I remember how Katniss and I would play with them as kids, and before I know it, I'm caught up in a memory.

"Come on Prim!" Katniss calls, racing down the slope towards the fence.

I huff and puff behind her, my small legs not able to carry me far enough, fast enough.

"Okay, now you have to be quiet" she whispers to me as we reach the fence.

She gives a coy grin as I press a finger to my mouth, staying as silent as I can.

Katniss listens for the birdcalls, and then begins to sing. She sings a tune my father sang to lull me to sleep, and the tune is so beautiful I can't help but smile as Katniss' clear voice rings out.

She quiets after a moment, and the birds mimic her call, singing her tune back to her.

She joins them, and they fall into a delicate harmony.

I sit there, smiling and giggling to myself as my ears are filled with the beautiful music.

The birds quiet after a few moments and Katniss smiles down at me brilliantly. "Okay Prim, Now you"-

"Prim?" Rory nudges my shoulder, breaking me from my thoughts. "You okay?"

"Yeah. Fine. Why?"

"You almost ran into a tree."

I stare forward at the tall pine directly in front of me.

"No I didn't." I retort.

"Yeah," Rory laughs, "You kind of did."

I roll my eyes and we continue walking, but the feeling of the memory stays with me as the Mockingjays continue to sing.

I miss Katniss.

We stop for lunch, and pass around dried meats, some apples and a loaf of bread. I gratefully tear a chunk off and wolf it down, the soft bread tasting like heaven to me.

We finish our meal in silence, and Posy sidles down beside me.

"Prim?" she asks me.

"Yeah Pos?"

"Why are the birds singing to us?"

I smile. "Because that's what they do." I pause for a moment, wolf down some more bread, and then decide to have a little fun. "You want to teach them a song Posy?"

Her eyes widen with delight. "You can do that?"

"Yep. Come one over here with me." I take her small hand in mind and take her a small ways away from the others, where it's virtually silent but for the birds singing.

"Okay Pos," I instruct. "What song do you know the best?"

"I know The Valley Song." She offers.

"Perfect. Do you want to sing it with me?"

She nods, her face breaking into a broad grin, and we both open our mouths, softly singing to the birds with The Valley Song.

We quiet, and I press a finger to Posy's lips. Silence, and then…

The birds begin.

They mimic our tune perfectly, and Posy's eyes sparkle with delight.

I can't help but join in on her glee.

It's like she just witnessed magic. She's so excited, she can barely contain it.

She runs back towards the others screaming: "Prim and I taught the birds a song! We sang and then they sang!"

She runs around the circle, squealing with delight.

"Yeah Pos sounds awesome," Gale says half-heartedly, but Posy takes whatever reaction she can.

"It was awesome! It was so pretty Mummy!" she leaps into her mothers lap, recounting the story again and again as her mother attempts to quiet her.

"Mhm Posy, it sounds lovely honey, it really does. Now would you please finish up your apple?"

We finish lunch to the tune of Posy squealing and talking about the singing birds again and again, until she finally quiets and sits close beside me again.

"Prim?"

"Yeah?"

"What kind of birds was the singing ones?"

"Those were Mockingjays Posy."

She seems to consider this for a moment. "Isn't that Katniss' bird?"

I can't help but smile. "Yeah, it is."

All of a sudden my mind is flooded with the image of Katniss in her feathery black dress, lit aflame and burning up in front of the Capitol audience. Her strong expression a she turned to Ceaser and shook out her long sleeves, now wings with white tips; "A Mockingjay…It's the bird on the pin I wear as a token."

Posy smiles to herself happily, proud to have remembered the 'Katniss bird', and sits beside me until we're done lunch and we pack up to continue walking.

"Prim?" Posy comes up beside me.

"Mhm?"

"Can I walk with you?" she asks shyly.

"Of course Posy," I take her hand. "Come on."

About a minute in, I hear Posy call my name again.

"Yeah Posy?"

"Prim, can we make the birds sing again?"

I can't hide the smile that breaks out on my face.

"Sure we can Posy."

And so for the rest of the walk, Posy and I teach the birds songs. Rory even joins in and teaches them the lullaby he once sang to me.

But all through the woods, while singing to the birds and smiling as they sing back at us; I have to wonder.

What comes next?

Hello all you beautiful people. I'm sorry for my lack of updates over the past few days. It has been pretty crazy ridiculous, and trust me... I have physical evidence to prove it. In the meantime, I've been getting some amazing messages from you guys saying what you thought Madge might have given Gale. You guys are seriously a lot more creative than I am, but a couple of you guess right as to what it was! And, don't worry, you'll find all that out soon. In the meantime, keep messaging me, because it is so cool to hear back from you guys on what you think Madge might have given Gale, your thoughts on the story and the characters and reviews on my writing. I love it.

Thanks so much for reading guys. I promise I'll be updating as much as I can, as soon as I can. :)