Authors Note:

Hi all. Thank you all for your kind reviews and for all of the new follows! A special thanks and round of applause to my new Beta Daisy3D. Thank you So Much Daisy3D, normally I go crazy reading, rereading and rereading each chapter before I post it. Here is the chapter I promised (Now you get to see what happened to Katniss). Enjoy!

P.S. I do not own Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay, or all of the characters. these are all property of the wonderful Suzanne Collins.

Katniss woke up with a start, catapulting her into a sitting position on the bed. Her legs tangled in the sheets as she struggled through the hazy fog of fear coursed through her body. Her mind was disoriented, her vision blurry. A silent scream still on her lips as she breathed heavily.

"Katniss?"

Startled, Katniss spun her head quickly in the direction of the voice it, caused a sharp pain in her neck. She choked out, "Prim?"

"Did you have a nightmare?" Prim sleepily questioned. Her sister was prone to have nightmares about the day their father died in the mines.

Katniss' vision began to become clearer. She expected to wake up in the hospital, or even in her quarters of the underground bunker in District Thirteen. Instead, her eyes took in the gray slat boards of the house she lived in before the Games. Disoriented, she looked by her side and saw her sister. "Prim?"

Prim hugged her sister tightly as she yawned. She was slipping back into sleep. Sleepily, she murmured "It's going to be okay."

Katniss clung to her sister's embrace momentarily. "Prim, why are we home?" She asked.

Prim was so sleepy, she did not understand her sister's question. Katniss was always disoriented after a nightmare.

"You should be hunting with Gale..." Prim separated from her sister and snuggled back on to the bed.

"Gale?" Katniss questioned, she was lost.

"Before school starts…" Prim yawned once more.

Katniss stood from the bed and recalled how she and Gale used to go hunting before the start of the school day. Confused, Katniss kneeled by her sister. Her sister seemed younger. Younger than when she was in District Thirteen. Beetee implied she was supposed to be brought to Snow's mansion. "Prim, what's today?"

"Oh today..."Prim said, snuggling her small head on to the pillow.

Katniss could see her sister was falling asleep quickly, she placed her hands on her sisters' cheeks. "Prim, who won the last Hunger Games?"

"The boy from District 2." Prim mumbled as she finally fell asleep.

Katniss frowned. She had more questions, and there was only one person who would have the answers, Gale. She quickly dressed and headed out for the woods.

The path was familiar to her. This was too surreal for her to take in. It was as if the bombing had never taken place. It was still early out, the sun had not crested over the sky but she saw a group of miners heading out to work. Many of those men were dead. Katniss paused, looking at them, wondering if they were a trick of her imagination.

Katniss freaked out.

She hid behind a tree momentarily, calming herself down. Perhaps she had not traveled to the mansion. Perhaps she had traveled into the past. If she did, it would explain why Prim looked so young and why she woke up in the old house located in the Seam. This was why she was seeing people she knew were dead.

Katniss sat down momentarily. Her brain working furiously as she went over the information in her head. Her conclusion was the only one that made sense. If this was the past, then she could make so many changes. Getting up, Katniss brushed herself off. She had fantasized about this and here this opportunity landed in her lap. Katniss was not going to question anything, instead, she was going to make changes in her life. Starting with Gale.

She neared the fence and found the recognizable hole where she and Gale slipped in and out. She slid through after making sure there were no Peacekeepers. In the past, she would not have looked. But this was not the past, she had gone through too much to simply take chances. Katniss ran through the woods, finding the hollow log where her father's bow and sheath of arrows were hidden.

"You're late." Gale's voice startled her.

Out of pure instinct, Katniss spun around, her bow loaded; aimed to fire at Gale.

"Whoa, Katniss." Gale exclaimed raising his hands.

"Sorry…" Katniss was still rattled, slowly she lowered her bow. Her eyes grey took in Gale, he was happy. There was easiness in his stance. Gale was not weighed down with death, the rebellion, and the war. He was lean, and there was no trace of Alma Coin on him. This was the boy she knew, her best friend and hunting buddy.

"Why are you so jumpy, Catnip?" Gale questioned.

"Why are you so quiet?" Katniss growled, putting her arrow back in the sheath.

Gale grinned, "Because I am the better hunter."

Katniss could not help the small smirk that came to her face. Gale was not the better hunter, he was the better trapper. The small smile fell almost immediately, it was too easy to fall back into this familiar pattern. Katniss reminded herself she needed to stay focused.

"Ready, we have to get going if we are going to get a haul in before school starts." Gale says.

"This is your last year…" I trail off.

"I know. As much as I hate school, I would rather it than go down into the mines." Gale half complained, half whined.

Katniss walked after him, counting down in her head, waiting for his rant against the government to begin.

"You know, I hate the fact that we don't have a choice about our futures. We have to work in the mines with little pay in order to help our families. This whole system is unfair." He says, right on time.

Katniss grinned to herself, she closed her eyes. For once enjoying his ranting.

"What are you grinning about?" Gale spun around, looking at her suspiciously.

"Gale, we may not have a lot of freedom here, but at least they can't tell us who to marry, or who to love." Katniss said without thought. She stood there, allowing her sheath of arrows to slide down to the ground from her shoulder as she slightly leaned up against the bark of a tree. The bow loosely hanging from her grip. They were going to have a fight, she could feel it by the way he was looking at her.

Gale had never heard Catnip speak about marriage, or love. She only proclaimed she was never going to get married or have kids. "What are you saying?" He asks.

Katniss knew she had an opportunity to speak to Gale and air out things between them. "It could be worse if they told you who you had to marry or love. You are my best friend, and I know I could never marry you." She says.

Gale frowned, "Why not?"

In the past Katniss would have argued, becoming irritated. Peeta however had taught her to be patient. She asked herself how Peeta would speak with Gale. With all of the gentleness she could muster, she addressed Gale. "I have given this a lot of thought Gale. I know I am not the best at saying things but I do think about stuff."

"You have?" Gale croaked out. He had never thought of Catnip thinking about these things. Catnip was still a kid to him. She was cute, and sure if there was no one else he would marry her. But hearing her say that she did not want him as a husband was rather shocking.

"Yes I have. Do you realize we spend the majority of the time arguing?" Katniss recalled an incident and hopped it was correct. "Remember last week we argued about who we should sell the boar meat to, Rooba or Greasy Sae?"

Gale stuffed his hands in his pocket. She was right, and he hated when she was right. "We never fight, we just don't always agree on stuff. You're the one who is always angry." He said, testing her.

"Gale you are fighting with me about whether or not we argue a lot." Katniss grinned at the absurdity of the situation.

"I am not… I am disagreeing with you." He countered.

Sardonically, Katniss replied as she stared at him. "Really?"

Gale balled his hands in his pockets angrily at her calm disposition. He narrowed his eyes at her, he wondered why she was so calm. Normally she would have been spitting mad.

"Gale you were just shouting at me. When you get mad you ball your hands in your pockets, and if not you cross your arms tightly against your chest. And right now, you are scowling at me." Katniss grinned, she could not help it as Gale was checking himself to see if what she told him was true.

Gale tried to wipe his scowl from his face, but he couldn't.

"We are the same. You and I typically react the same way to situations." Katniss shook her head, recalling just how many times they actually bickered. "The only time we don't fight is when we hunt or rant about the Capitol. Do you even know what my favorite color is?" She questions.

Gale murmured kicking the dirt. "We are not the same."

"Yes we are, and that is why we would never work. We would kill each other. You know we are better hunters and friends." Katniss sighed looking at her best friend. She cared for him and loved him, but not in the way she loved Peeta. "You always have my back, even if you don't know what my favorite color is."

"Okay." Gale threw his hands in the air, she was correct. He did not know her favorite color. He wracked his brain, trying to recall it, but could not remember her ever telling him. It was odd that after all these years he did not know something so simple about her, he pondered why. Her simple question made him begin to question everything about them. "Okay, we are the same and you are right I do not know your favorite color." Gale said begrudgingly.

Katniss felt better than she had in months. She felt like she had closure with Gale. She was about to do something she had thought about since Madge had turned up at her house with the medicine for Gale. "Besides, I would like you to stop running around with those stupid girls at the slag heap. I would rather you see someone nice like..."

Gale was interested, he had never known Katniss knew about the Slag Heap. She was such a prude when it came to stuff like that. He wanted to know how she knew about that, but at the moment, he also wanted to know who she was going to refer to him. "Go on…"

Katniss paused as if she was going to spill out a great secret, which she was. Hindsight is truly twenty, twenty vision. Had she been able to correctly define her relationship with Gale, she could have been a better friend to Madge. Madge always asked about Gale, she always stared at him. Katniss knew now Madge liked Gale, and she knew later on Gale would turn to Madge. Looking at Gale's eager face Katniss thought perhaps she would give things a little push.

"Madge will kill me for this, but I know that you are better suited for someone like her." Katniss stood straighter, bending down to pick up the case that held her arrows.

Gale was slack jawed for a moment. Of all the girls Katniss could have suggested, the Mayors daughter was not on any list.

"Madge likes you, she always asks about you and she always gets this funny look on her face whenever she sees you. It's kind of gross." Katniss pretended to gag, but when she turned around she could not help the wide grin that spread on her face.

"Madge Undersee, the Mayors' daughter." Gale sputtered even as he watched Catnip walk away into the brush with her bow and arrow.

"You coming? We're burning daylight." Katniss threw over her shoulder as she quickly aimed, and with great ease, shot down two squirrels.

Gale shook his head as he watched her. He was always amazed at how easily she was able to hunt with a weapon that was made for a man. Their conversation however played in his mind.

After they were finished, they quickly went to the Hob where one of the Peacekeepers, Darius, made a comment about how hot Katniss was. He became angry and shot some choice words at Darius. But he backed down after Catnip gave him that all knowing grin.

Gale frowned and looked at her through the eyes of a man as they made their way toward the Mayor's house. Yes she was very beautiful, but after their conversation this morning, he could not see her as anything other than a friend. She was like family to him. Catnip he decided, was like his little sister, Posy. One day she was going to fall in love with some guy, and just like Posy he was going to make sure the guy treated his Catnip with the up most respect and care.

Katniss hoped this was enough to get Gale to stop thinking about her in a romantic light. She wanted Gale to be her friend because she knew she was going to need him. Looking at him her lips twitched she could hear him mutter Madge's name under his breath. She grinned recalling how Madge was always waiting for them in some ridiculous outfit. She could not wait to see how Gale would react to her friend today. "Ready to sell berries to the Undersee's?"

Gale felt himself get nervous. It was not the fact that Madge was the Mayors daughter or that she was a townie, it was the fact that Catnip pointed out to him that Madge liked him. He noticed her, how could he not. Madge was pretty and she had this quiet side to her that always intrigued him. He could not help the way his voice croaked, "Sure."

Katniss grinned as they approached the Mayors house and walked to the back entrance. Madge was waiting for them dressed in a frilly pink dress.

"Morning." Madge said nervously, touching the edges of her pink dress. She could feel the way her face became red and blotchy.

Gale felt super anxious as he stood there with Katniss. "Hi Madge." His voice sounded higher pitched for some reason.

"Hey Madge, we have berries. Gale collected them for you. He knows how much you like them." Katniss held back her smile. Instead she watched Madge become flustered.

Madge did not know how many times she blinked before she finally whispered, "You did?"

Gale looked down at Catnip, he could not believe she lied. She never lied, actually, her ears were red at the moment. She was a horrible liar, but she had done it to help him out. And in this moment, she suddenly became his wing man. "Ah…" He trailed.

"Look why don't you finish this I am headed down to the bakers, it is almost time for school to start." Katniss said quickly taking the berries and pushing them into Gale's hands. She then turned around and ran out of the Mayors home, down the back ally towards Peeta. She could not wait to see him.

She barely arrived when the door opened up and there stood Peeta in all of his glorious youth. Peeta was truly breathtaking. His blond hair fell across his forehead. His eyes were bluer than the pristine waters of District Four. He was so handsome. Katniss heaved breaths into her body even as a soft smile played on her lips.

"Good Morning." Peeta had not expected to see Katniss outside of his door, it was getting late.

"Hey." Katniss felt shy around him, suddenly remembering they had not gone through everything. They were still strangers, yet she knew so much about him. Katniss could not help the way her voice came out barely above a whisper. She could feel the blush spreading across her cheeks. "I have some squirrels and a rabbit… to trade."

Peeta could not believe she was speaking to him. Her face was red and her voice was soft. He thought perhaps it was because she out of breath, Katniss had been running to get here. "I will tell my-" Peeta began.

"Oh, there you are Katniss." Mr. Mellark said smiling. Then he paused watching his youngest son with the girl. It was a little known secret amongst their family that Peeta had a large crush on Katniss Everdeen. By the look Katniss leveled on his son, it seemed it was no longer one sided.

"Good morning sir." Katniss swallowed thickly, it was strange speaking to Peeta's father. She could hardly look him in the face. "I have three squirrels and a rabbit for you today."

"You do? Well I thought you had forgotten about us." Mr. Mellark looked at Katniss, he had the feeling he had interrupted something between his son and the girl.

Katniss blush turned a deeper red as she shook her head. She handed Mr. Mellark the squirrels and rabbit. He was so kind and he loved his son immensely. Katniss wanted to find a way to save Mr. Mellark. "Never sir, I would never forget you."

"Well, wait right here." Mr. Mellark was about to turn around but paused, "Katniss, did you know Peeta is going to go for the championship today…"

"...in wrestling…" Katniss trailed, wishing she could dial down on the blushing. Suddenly she knew exactly what day it was. He would lose the championship.

Peeta's blue eyes turned wide as he listened to Katniss speak, he had no idea she knew about him.

Katniss took a great big gulp of air before she rushed out. "Peeta is a great wrestler."

Mr. Mellark grinned. It seemed Peeta was not the only one watching. He turned his head then said, "Peeta there is a customer at the front why don't you give Katniss the bread while I help them."

Peeta nodded as he followed his father back inside the bakery. He was kicking himself instead of speaking to her he ran inside like a scared kid. He grabbed the bread then mentally composed himself before going outside again.

Katniss wanted to kick herself. Her statement was lame. Of all the things she could say to make an impact on Peeta and show him how she felt, she had come up with telling him what a great wrestler he was. She wanted to run, but did not have the opportunity to do so because the screen door at the back of the bakery swung open.

"Here Katniss." Peeta handed her the loaves. He wanted to say so much to her, but felt like his heart was going to explode out of his chest at any moment. All of the calm he felt jumped out of him the moment he set eyes on her.

Katniss reached out to take the package wrapped in wax paper. Her hands brushed up against his. Instantly she gasped at the electricity she felt at his touch. It was then she heard his gasp as well. They stood there simply staring at each other.

Peeta took all of her in, from the top of her head to the toe of her boots. The way her braid fell across her shoulder, he wanted to reach out and touch it. Katniss stood transfixed, appreciating how wonderful it was to simply be loved by Peeta again. She wanted to do something small that would help him know she liked him.

"Good luck today." She blinked, then took a step toward him, intending to place a kiss on his cheek. But his head turned slightly and she ended up placing the kiss on his lips. Katniss gasped at the small peck. Her body recalling the last kiss they shared on the beach of the Quarter Quell. His lips were so warm and perfect. Like his arms, this was home to her.

Peeta's eyes went wide on his face as he reared his face back. He could see how red faced Katniss was. Her silver eyes registered wonderment and shock. His face then understood this was her first kiss and she had given it to him. His face split into a grand smile. For Peeta, this was going to be the best day ever.

"I guess I will see you at school?" Peeta said happily.

Katniss nodded then shyly walked away, turning her head back several times to see her Peeta staring at her. She wanted to run back to him and jump in his arms. She did not however, knowing she had to go home. When she could no longer see him, she ran the rest of the way home.

Katniss did not know how long she would have in the past. What happened to her was a gift, and she was not going to waste it.