DISCLAIMER: HG characters do not belong to me.
Words not spoken in English will be italicized.
A/N: I forgot to mention in the last chapter….thanks for all of the reviews! I look forward to reading them.
Chapter 23-Leaving
Katniss just stared as Gale walked off, not looking back. It reminded her of the time he walked out on her when they went back to District 12. When he told her she only responded to him when he was in pain. She realized she managed to do it again.
She knew her trying to hug him probably caught him off guard, they hadn't hugged since-she couldn't remember when. When he came back after he and a few others rescued Peeta? Or was it when they last kissed in District 2?
The truth was, she missed hugging him. It always came so naturally to her. He was her best friend after all. While it was probably bad timing, she was trying to make amends by the move. To show him she was grateful that he had made arrangements for her to see Rain's mother before Trent and Sequoyah are returned to the Capitol.
She headed over to her tepee to pack up. She changed into her old clothes, the clothes she originally wore when she came here. Now that it was not so cold she didn't need to wear as much outerwear like before. She placed all her belongings in her bag, put her dreamcatcher around her neck and grabbed Rain's bag as well.
When she walked out she saw Morning Sun, Red Bear, Hawk, and White Wolf standing outside waiting for her. She smiled as they approached. She noticed Morning Sun was holding something in her hand.
She handed Katniss a shawl that was covered in different colored beads. It reminded her of a rainbow with all the colors. It was beautiful.
"I had been working on this for a few weeks. Good thing I finished it in time." Morning Sun said as Katniss held up the shawl and continued to look at it.
Katniss could feel the tears forming in her eyes.
"I had used a bunch of different color beads to remind you of Rainbow and us, I wasn't sure after she died if I should still give it to you."
"I love it." Katniss said as the tears started to fall. "It's so beautiful."
She took off her jacket, and pulled the shawl over her shoulders. "I'll miss you, all of you." Katniss looked to the three men while she continued to cry.
"Remember, we look at you as a part of the tribe now, if you ever want to come back, you know how to find us." Red Bear then gave Katniss a piece of paper. A map to the village from the border of District 9. Rain's old map. She quickly placed it in her bag.
"I will be back. Once I find out from the Capitol where the other cameras are, I'll come back. I will need your help to go to the other villages." Katniss wanted to make sure they knew this wasn't goodbye for now.
"We know, but we meant after all this is finished." Hawk said.
"Thank you" Katniss said and hugged all four of them.
As she turned to leave she saw three females standing off to the side. It was Rain's half-sisters. While she did interact with them somewhat since she had been with the tribe, she was not as close to them as she was Morning Sun, Red Bear, Hawk, and White Wolf.
Rain's youngest half-sister, Snowbird approached Katniss and said, "You are going to Rainbow's mother?"
"Yes" Katniss replied.
Snowbird nodded in response. "We wanted to tell you. That our sister really cared for you as a friend."
Katniss forced herself to not cry. She had just finished. Her eyes were still watery and puffy. She swallowed and said, "I cared for her as well, I am so sorry for your loss."
Snowbird nodded again and walked back to her sisters, all three of them gave Katniss a final look of understanding before walking away.
Katniss jogged back to Gale's team by the river. All of them were packed and ready to go. With annoyed looks on their faces as Katniss approached.
Some of their looks softened as they saw she had been crying. But not everyone's. She almost thought she saw some of them roll their eyes.
Gale didn't acknowledge Katniss while they walked the mile to the hovercraft. Katniss was in the back way behind everyone else as they walked. Gale up front. She figured she probably was not going to be talking to him for a while.
She ended up talking to him a lot sooner than she thought.
When they all got onto the hovercraft, Spencer approached Gale and said in front of everyone, "It looks like Trent was injured after all. I didn't notice it until I brought him onboard. But he says he was shot by Miss Everdeen with her bow and arrow-twice."
Gale turned to Katniss and hissed, "Is that true?"
"Yes" Katniss said stony.
"Why?" he demanded.
"I needed him to tell me information, he wasn't cooperating."
"So you just torture someone?"
"Keep in mind I had just been captured Commander Hawthorne, my friend raped, I was knocked around. I guess you could say my judgment wasn't the best." Katniss had the same stony expression as she answered.
Gale didn't respond.
"I have to say sir, his wounds look almost healed, and whoever treated the wounds did an excellent job." Spencer interjected.
Gale looked back at Katniss. She raised her eyebrows in response.
"And Sequoyah?" Gale asked.
"She's fine, just discomfort in her hands from being tied up for so long." Spencer replied.
Gale nodded and said, "Make sure Miss Everdeen is seen to her seat."
He then walked off to the front of the hovercraft with the pilot.
Katniss was given a small bin to place her stuff in. She put her bow and arrow on the floor near the bin. Then she was shown her seat near the other squad members. Katniss could feel the hovercraft take off, shooting high into the air.
The ride to District 9 took one hour. Katniss sat in silence while the other squad members chatted with each other. No one tried to start a conversation with her. Which she was just fine with.
When they landed in District 9, she walked with the squad to the main base. It looked like a large abandoned building. Inside however, was totally different. She saw a control room with an office off to the side, along with other rooms that served as housing and a large common area.
Trent and Sequoyah were ushered off to separate rooms. Most likely tied up again.
She watched Gale go into the office and shut the door. After about 15 minutes he came out and walked up to Katniss and said, "President Paylor has agreed to see you. She is aware we will be coming after you make your visit."
Katniss didn't say anything in response, only nodded.
"Your vehicle will be here in two hours. Do you want to rest?" he asked.
"Yes" she said.
Gale had one of the soldiers show Katniss to a room she could rest in. She laid on the bed and stared at the ceiling, trying to think of what she was going to say to Rain's mother. Should she tell her everything? Or spare her the horrid details?
She also dozed off and was wakened by the sound of pounding on the door. "Miss Everdeen, your ride is here" she heard a voice say.
She quickly checked herself in the mirror hanging up to make sure she still looked presentable. When she walked out of the room she saw Spencer standing there, waiting for her. She looked at him questioningly.
"Commander Hawthorne wants me to escort you." He said to her.
"Wait—Gale is not coming?"
"No, he is staying here until we get back, then he will escort you along to the Capitol and turn Sequoyah and Trent over."
She was disappointed by this, she had hoped Gale would ride with her in the vehicle, she thought maybe she could try apologizing again, she knew she needed to.
Instead, she rode with Spencer who ended up being quite talkative, the first soldier besides Sequoyah to actually talk with her. He chatted her ear off. It was a nice distraction she thought as they rode on.
