Waking up alone was one of the worst feelings. Johanna had to keep reminding herself that it was only temporary.

It had been three days since Katniss went away to who knows where doing who knows what. The days were dragging on, things seemed to come to a standstill. The only saving grace was the ring around Johanna's finger, which she often found herself staring at. It was Katniss's way of telling her that she would be back. Even if it didn't feel like it.

The worst part of all of this was that Katniss had taken just about everybody with her. Peeta, Annie, Ms. Everdeen, and even Effie. Haymitch stayed at his place, though he would sometimes come by and check up on her, or bring her some dinner. No matter how many times Johanna asked about Katniss, he wouldn't budge. She just wanted to know what was going on.

She sat in her bed, feeling rather lonely right now. She didn't really want to get up, but it was getting towards the afternoon and Johanna needed to eat something. She grumbled as she got out of bed, her hair and clothes all looking especially messy.

When she got to the living room, she was rather surprised to see a little boy crawling around in there.

"Kellen?" She muttered, rubbing her eyes. She prayed that she wasn't seeing things now.

"Oh! Look who finally decided to get up!" A peppy voice chimed from the living room. Annie stood up, smiling at Johanna. "You look... we should get you cleaned up."

"Annie?" Johanna was surprised to see her back. "What are you doing here?"

"I just got back this morning!" She hugged Johanna, immediately scrunching her nose, "Johanna you need to take a shower."

"Oh, I don't -"

"It's alright, Katniss warned me that might be an issue. I can help you out." Annie smiled. She picked Kellen up, and grabbed Johanna's hand with her free hand.

"Katniss... where is she?" Johanna asked.

"I can't say."

Johanna frowned, "Why not?"

"Can you please just do what I ask you and not ask questions?" Annie demanded.

Johanna shook her head, "I want to know where my fiancee is and if she's safe and..."

"She's fine, now come on. Stop asking questions." Annie dragged her back upstairs to her bedroom, then into the bathroom. She started to force Johanna's shirt off, but Johanna fought back.

"I'm not going to do anything until you tell me what's going on." Johanna argued.

"What's going on is that I'm going to give you a bath. Don't make me call Haymitch." Annie threatened. Johanna knew she wasn't bluffing. Haymitch would be able to pin her down, he was a lot stronger. Not like he hadn't seen her naked before but she really didn't want Haymitch and Annie ripping her clothes off while Kellen was sitting nearby watching. It was like a bad scene in a movie. Finally, she agreed and stopped fighting back. Annie gave her a kiss on the cheek, "Good girl!"

The bath was miserable. But that wasn't even the worst part. After, Annie started to do Johanna's hair, styling it in a way that she never really like to style it. "Okay, what the hell are you doing?"

"I'm just doing your hair, relax."

"You're trying to make me look like a doll." Johanna ran her fingers through her hair, to mess it up a little bit.

Annie groaned, "Will you stop being such a big baby?"

"I'm capable of doing my own hair!" Johanna snapped. Annie sat down with her arms crossed and watched as Johanna finished doing her hair. "There, that was much faster."

Annie rolled her eyes, "Put some real clothes on, and pack a couple extras."

"Why?"

"I'm taking you home, Jo."

Johanna frowned, "But I am home."

Annie smiled, "Your childhood home."


Johanna stood in the rubble of a place she hadn't dared set foot in since the day it burned down.

The people of District 7 had left the Village in ashes, as a memorium to remind them of tragedy they had suffered because of one arrogant peacekeeper. A reminder, throughout the war, of what they were fighting for. Now that they were in peacetime, the members of District 7 had voted to clean it up, and rebuild. Annie had brought Johanna to her childhood home the day before the cleanup was to begin.

Nobody had touched anything in this house. Johanna was the only one who had a right to. She remembered Jaxon had wanted to come down several times to pick up some of their belongings, but Johanna had never let him. She was afraid of what she would find.

She wasn't so afraid now, brushing through the rubble. There were little trinkets scattered, shattered. Dishes, silverware, toys. She looked up at Annie who was holding Kellen nearby. She gave Johanna a reassuring smile. She picked up a couple of the children's toys and put them in her bag. She wasn't sure if she'd ever need them, but a small token as a reminder of her little brothers.

Not too far, hidden only slightly by the rubble, was a shining picture frame. There she was, age four, with her parents who looked young and happy. She smiled at the photo, stuffing it in the bag. She felt like she had found all she needed, when a sparkle caught her eye. She kneeled down, picking up the shiny item. A warm feeling ran through her body. It was her mother's wedding ring. Simple, small, but she could remember her mother wearing it with pride because it was a gift from the man she had loved so much.

A tear escaped her eye and rolled down her cheek. She wiped it away before standing up and placing the ring in her bag as well.

"You all set?" Annie asked as Johanna approached her. Johanna nodded. "Are you okay?"

"I'm good." Johanna sighed, but this time she actually meant it. Before meeting Katniss, she probably would have crumbled into a million pieces trying to do what she had just done, sorting through the memories of those she had lost.

"Alright, come with me then!" Annie said, taking her hand.

They walked hand in hand through the streets of District 7. A few people looked up at her, some in awe, as she passed. It had been a while since she'd been back home, but her face wasn't so easily forgotten. Maybe in a few more years people would forget. But they were smiling at her, nodding in greeting as she passed. For the first time she really felt like they did accept her here, that they weren't so much afraid of her as she thought they were. Not that Johanna would willingly move back here so fast, but she wouldn't be so hesitant to come back and pay a visit to them.

"What's this Annie?" Johanna asked, looking at the orchard where she had worked before she was reaped. It was beautiful, but now there were chairs everywhere. It was beautifully decorated...

"It's where you're going to get married!" Annie trilled, laughing.

Johanna smiled, "Who's been setting this up?"

"Who do you think?"

"Katniss..." Of course, Johanna knew it had to have been Katniss. But they weren't supposed to get married for another couple of months, there was no way this would last that long.

"Now," Annie said, tugging on her hand, "I need to get you out of here before the guests start to arrive."

"The guests?"

"Yep," Annie laughed, "What you thought I brought you here just for your old house?"

"Annie... no. I'm not ready." Johanna said, a strong wave of disbelief washing over her. This couldn't be happening. Why was she being blindsided by this? She wasn't prepared at all, she was still two months away from being prepared for any of this.

"Well, you have two hours to get ready!" Annie said, pulling her along, "That's when your wedding starts."