Chapter 1

The day Katniss and Haymitch return to District 12 is a quiet subdued occasion. Haymitch says nothing as Katniss follows him up the stairs to his still standing house in the Victor's Village, not being able to stomach the thought of going into her own home. He barely gives her a second glance as shes grabs the bottle of the clear liquid he covets and takes a drink that makes even him flinch. She finds Haymitch's method quite effective in numbing her pain and quieting her the screams inside her head. The nightmares don't come nearly as often if she is passed out.

She has made herself quite comfortable in the oversized armchair next to the fireplace, she spends hours staring into the flames, always running through her head is "My name is Katniss Everdeen, I'm confined to District 12, Prim is dead, killed by the Revolution, Peeta died trying to save her, I killed President Coin, I was the Mockingjay."

She drinks until she silences the mantra, nothing matters anymore, it's easier to forget. The world of Panem may know her as their Mockingjay who went crazy. But to her she is empty, she is nothing, she is a lost lonely little girl, everything and everyone she loved is gone. The girl on fire has flickered and died. Katniss had volunteered to save Prim and in the end she had killed her anyways.

Haymitch doesn't require much conversation, they are both content just to drink away the demons. He politely ignores her when the screams from the nightmares jolt her awake just as she ignores his. They fall into a compatible routine and it doesnt't involve much talking. Everyday Greasy Sae comes over and forces what little food she can into Katniss. She even enlists her granddaughters to help clean Haymitch's house. Not that either of them noticed. Occasionally Sae would drag Katniss upstairs and throw her in the shower clothes and all. Katniss sat silently as Sae scrubbed weeks of alcohol and disgrace off of her.

Her mother had stayed in District 4, unable to handle loss of Prim. Johanna had returned to District 7, Finnick had gone back to District 4 to mourn Annie. Gale had stayed in the Capitol with Beetee. There was noone left except Haymitch. She hadn't contacted anyone since she has come home. Ignoring even her mandated sessions with Dr. Aurelias, grateful that Haymitch had ripped out his phone line. The stack of letters she'd ignored had grown to an impressive pile, for drinking her pain away it was so much easier than dealing with all the emotions she was avoiding and wasnt quite ready to confront.

People were starting to return to 12, some of them people who had lived there before, some from other districts who wanted a fresh start. Katniss paid them no attention. Once a week she would head down to the train station to pick up her's and Haymitch's shipment of relief. No one dared speak to her as she hauled the cases back to the Village, but every trip she was forced to walk past the remains of Peeta's family bakery. Her drinking and nightmares were always worse that night. After a particularly bad night Haymitch had started paying young man to bring the cases to them.

They mostly ignored the Daily News broadcast, every second a reminder of everything that they had lost. President Paylor did seem to be doing a decent job in uniting the Districts from the little they had seen.

It had been almost an entire year since they liberated the Capitol and Katniss had been exiled. Almost an entire year since she had executed Coin. Katniss' drinking had reached the point that she would do anything to forget.

On the one-year anniversary of the formation of the new Panem a certain bronze haired Victor stepped onto the platform of District 12. A hush fell over the crowd and whispered voices followed him but he made his way through the town with surprising ease.

He stopped at the bottom of the stairs of the house in the village. Haymitch had called him and asked for his help, no one could understand her better than him. The bond they developed 13 was something only they shared and that was what he and Haymitch were counting on.

His mind flashed to the moment he had seen her for the first time. Fire danced behind her eyes and her defiance to the Capitol all too evident in her posture. She was beautiful.

With a final sigh he made his way up the stairs and steeled himself for the wraith he expected to find. He held his breath as he opened the door, he saw her as soon as he walked in the foyer. She was much thinner than he remembered, her hand was curled around the bottle of clear liquor. He thought how she couldn't possibly be comfortable curled into the chair she was in. Haymitch was snoring opposite her, passed out on the couch with an identical bottle in his hand. Not wasting a moment he launched some water on Haymitch, who woke up sputtering and began to scream obscenities at him. But upon recognizing Finnick he quieted immediately. With the communication of several nods Finnick maneuvered Katniss into his strong tanned arms with her barely stirring. It wasn't until he tried to take the bottle from her that she awoke and began to put up a fight.

However Finnick was stronger and kept his hold on her, cradling her in his arms. Katniss began shouting and cursing at them both trying to understand what was happening.

"Time to get you back together Girl on Fire." The more she struggled the tighter he held on.

"It's been fun sweetheart." Haymitch mock saluted her as Finnick held her firmly and walked out the door and across the courtyard to the place she had been avoiding fervently. Her house.