DISCLAIMER: HG characters do not belong to me.

Words not spoken in English will be italicized.

Chapter 42-The Vision II

When Katniss reached the Sioux village, it was a joyous reunion. Most of the tribe seemed genuinely happy to see her, even those she thought didn't care for her. Perhaps she has finally proven to them she could be trusted and be a good hunting partner-despite being a female.

She got a lot of questions as to where the other Sioux tribesmen were, Katniss explained how she was dropped off by the hovercraft and that the others should be returning in the next several days. The tribe was happy to hear everyone would be returning home safe.

It was easy for Katniss to return to the Sioux's way of life. She got to hunt again, began wearing their clothes again, and braiding her hair in two long braids down the front like they did. She also continued learning more of the language.


One morning while getting dressed, she noticed on the distress watch Gale gave her what the date was-May 8.

'My birthday' she thought to herself. She had turned 26 today. She also couldn't believe she had been with the Sioux going on five months. She made the mistake of telling Morning Sun it was her birthday; that evening the tribe decided to celebrate the occasion. While she usually hated attention drawn to herself in any way, she didn't end up minding the celebration the tribe threw for her. It was simple, they prepared Katniss's favorite dishes for dinner and performed tribal dances around the fire in her honor that night. No gifts were exchanged which relieved her.

She looked at becoming another year older as a way to make a resolution to change some things in her life. She hoped by this next time year, she is happy and stable in her life-wherever and with whomever that is with, even if it means being by herself. Her main goal was to have a job and a decent roof over her head.

Since Rain was no longer around, Katniss found she spent most of her time deep in conversation with Morning Sun. While she formed strong friendships with Red Bear, White Wolf, and Hawk-they were men and Sioux men tend to say very few words. Normally Katniss preferred that. But when it came to discussing personal matters, especially in regards to moving on from life in District 12 and her feelings concerning Peeta and Gale, she needed a lending ear to talk to. Morning Sun was an excellent listener and very insightful. Katniss divulged everything that had happened in her life from age 16 to the present to Morning Sun.

"The Capitol-a place of power is a bad. There should be no such thing" Morning Sun had said to Katniss after she explained her history with the Capitol.

"It is much better now than it was before" Katniss responded.

"Problems will arise, sounds as if they already have. Bad people want to take over-yes?"

"Yes" Katniss responded, knowing Morning Sun was right. She wondered what she thought the solution was.

"What do you suggest I do?" Katniss asks.

"Stay with us-don't go back."

Katniss was not surprised by this answer, she knew Morning Sun and the others thought Panem was not worth returning to. Why go back to a place that caused so much pain. Up here-she was free-no restrictions from anything, nothing man made controlling her. It could be just and her nature, living off the land. Like her and Gale talked about. Only-that dream involved bringing their families. And the ones she loved are the reason she knew she could never leave Panem, despite the fact she could envision herself marrying a Sioux man and possibly having children.

"Believe me-I have thought about staying, never going back only….."

"You can't leave your Mother" Morning Sun said finishing her words.

"And…..another."

Morning Sun smiled, knowing who Katniss was thinking of though she didn't say his name.


One day, Katniss asked Strong Wind if she could have permission to return to the ancient burial ground and inhale the herb again. The first time she went, she was afraid, not knowing what to expect. So much had changed since then, she was ready to face her fears and possibly see her future again. She needed this, she felt she had to do this one last time before leaving.

"If you think you will see your future in order to prevent or avoid something from happening, that is not how the herb works" Strong Wind told her, looking her fiercely in the eyes as Katniss sat on the floor across from him in his tepee.

"I know, I want to go because-I am not afraid anymore, I was afraid before."

"Remember, some of it will be fears-not all of it is the future."

"I know."

Katniss was given permission the following evening to go to the burial ground, escorted by Red Bear and Hawk as expected. As before, they arrived at sundown. Katniss sat by the fire that Hawk set up for her, with Red Bear placing the herb beside her. They both nodded at her and Red Bear said, "We will be keeping watch with the others. We will be watching the whole area all night."

"Thank you" Katniss said as she watched both men leave.

She took a deep breath, picked up the herb and inhaled it. As before, she waited, and waited-nothing happened. It seemed to take even longer than before. She felt her eyes start to get heavy, she tried to keep them open but it was becoming harder and harder as the minutes passed. Finally, she let her eyes close-and when she opened them, she saw she was in a meadow. But not just any meadow, she was in District 12, in the meadow near her house. She's sitting on a blanket-beside a picnic basket. She sees Peeta in the distance, playing with two children. She gasps, she realizes they are her and Peeta's children. She gets up and moves closer. She sees a little girl, who looks about 6 that has her black hair and Peeta's blue eyes. She also sees a little boy, who looks about 4 who has Peeta's blond hair and her grey eyes. She is horrified when she realizes that her children are playing on top of a graveyard.

Sitting there, she realizes she feels a sense of panic. She feels the horrors of the past playing in her mind over and over, she finds herself reciting her list of kind acts rapidly in her head to ease her anxiety. She closes her eyes, trying to recite the list again and again and then she feels the scene change, opening her eyes she sees she is in a classroom. A children's classroom. No students are in the room though, just her.

She has no idea what District she is in, or what this vision means. Is this where her children attend school? She moves to the front desk to get a better look when the scene quickly changes again. This time she is sitting on a back porch, in a rocking chair, slowly rocking back and forth. She looks ahead of her and sees a family-her family. She smiles at what she sees, she feels her grin get wider and wider. She begins to feel a sense of peace-feel herself slowly slip away, and then she feels her arms and wrists tied up and sees a man glaring at her, a whip in his hand. He begins whipping lashes at her wrists, she hears herself cry out in pain. The lashes continue and keep continuing, she feels the life start to drain from her.

She then opens her eyes, realizing the sun has come up. She sits up, blinking her eyes ensuring that she is awake and is indeed-alive.

When she gets back to the village, Morning Sun asks her how she was feeling.

"I think I might have seen my own death" she responds calmly.

Morning Sun gets a grave look on her face and says, "You will never know-until the actual moment happens, if it happens."

Katniss nods her head in agreement, four months ago, the vision she saw would have terrified her. But she wasn't scared, if anything, she was eager-eager to see what the future holds. If what she saw last night was the future, or a fear. She wondered if Rain had seen her death. When she died, she didn't appear to be afraid, it was almost as if she was welcoming it-hoping to be reunited with Jackson.

Katniss hoped wherever Rain was, she was with Jackson-where she belonged.


The day Katniss decided to leave the tribe, she looked at watch and saw it was June 15. It was summer in District 12. While it definitely warmer in the wild territory than when she first arrived, it still was nowhere near as warm as it was in District 12. She wondered how warm it would be in District 4.

Saying goodbye to the tribe ended up being harder for her than she thought. She realized it might be years before she saw the tribe again, if she ever saw them again. She hoped she would. She thanked each and every tribe member, which made her goodbyes seem to go on and on. Strong Wind told her she was the first and only white person he had ever trusted, and that she had his trust forever. It meant a lot to her, knowing she always had a place to come to, should she need to.

When she said her goodbyes to Morning Sun, she lost her composure and started crying. Morning Sun's eyes had formed tears as well. The two hugged one another for a long moment before Morning Sun said, "You will find happiness with the one you love, I know you will."

Katniss smiled through her tears, hoping Morning Sun was right, but she wasn't so sure. "It just seems so impossible now."

"Fate will find a way."

'Fate' Katniss thought to herself. She wasn't sure if what she saw last night was a result of fate. She appreciated Morning Sun's faith-she guessed time will tell which visions she saw were real or not real.

"If you ever have children, bring them here-I want to see them."

Katniss laughed softly, "I still have my doubts on that, but if do, I will bring them-I promise."

Katniss somehow found a way to turn around and start walking away from the tribe, not able to catch one final glance, for fear if she did, she would not be able to move forward walking with Red Bear and White Wolf, for they were going to travel with her for the next 3 days.

She enjoyed her final journey with the two of them, on the third day, they walked with her until she was about a four hour walk from the border of District 9. Katniss knew they didn't feel comfortable going any further, and she figured she had her bow and arrows and her distress watch. She figured she could manage the four hour walk on her own as long as she was extra cautious.

"Until we meet again" Red Bear said, Katniss knew he didn't want to say goodbye.

"I hope it is sooner rather than later" she replied.

She hugged both men and turned around, heading off deep into the woods, the trees beginning to look more like the trees she was familiar with in Panem. This time, she did turn around and gave the two tribesmen a final smile.


She made it to Rain's house safely, she looked at her watch and saw it was slightly after 1 pm. She knocked on Rain's door, hoping Rain's mother was there.

After the second knock, Jocelyn appeared-after peeking out the window to see who was at the door. She opened the door and said, "Katniss, you're back."

Katniss smiled at her and said, "Yeah, I'm back, sorry I couldn't let you know I was coming but, you know—"

Jocelyn laughed and said, "Yes, I know you can't exactly call from the village. Please-come in."

Katniss graciously accepted the invitation and walked through the door with her backpack and bow. Jocelyn saw how much thicker Katniss's backpack was now than when they first met.

Katniss couldn't pass up Jocelyn's offer to make lunch for her. She helped Jocelyn in the kitchen as she prepared a sandwich and soup for Katniss. While Katniss had no qualms about eating the Native's food, she did miss food from Panem. Especially the different types of stew and soups she used to eat.

Katniss filled Jocelyn in on what happened with the different tribes, and the Jay Killers.

"Do you think Geffen came back to Panem?" Jocelyn asked, a look of concern on her face.

"Yeah, I think he came back to rebuild. He lost over half of his members."

"Well, I hope your friend Gale and Panem's military can find them."

"I hope so too" Katniss said though she wasn't convinced Geffen would be easily found.

Katniss asked Jocelyn if she could use her phone to call her mother in District 4. Jocelyn showed Katniss where the phone was in the living room and left to give Katniss some privacy. Katniss reached into her bag and took out her journal, inside the front cover of the journal she had written down important numbers-adding Gale's and Spencer's numbers to the list. Her mother surprisingly answered, informing Katniss today was her day off from the hospital. Her mother informed Katniss she should go to the train station tomorrow and that her mother will book a trip for her to District 4 under her name. When Katniss hung up, she thought for once her mother actually sounded excited to see her.

Katniss continued her visit with Jocelyn for the rest of the day. As promised, Jocelyn took out some old photo albums and showed Katniss pictures of Rain. Katniss enjoyed looking through the pages, seeing Rain grow up page by page. After dinner Katniss heard a knock on the door, Jocelyn answered to see that one of the neighbors had come back, seeking help for a twisted ankle. Katniss watched as Jocelyn went to work wrapping the ankle, it reminded her of her Mother, and Prim. She didn't let the thought of Prim make her sad, instead, she thought about how it was the memory of Prim that most likely was the reason Katniss took to Jocelyn so well, seeing that kindness in helping others without a moment of hesitation.

The next morning, Jocelyn drove Katniss to the train station. Because District 9 was larger and more spread out, vehicles had become more common since the rebellion, most of the farmers now able to afford a car since they were now making a more livable wage.

Jocelyn explained how she and Rain together saved up to get a car a few years ago, explaining how it cut down the commute time walking to and taking the smaller train into town.

Katniss walked up to the ticket booth and gave her Mother's name, as anticipated, she was given a one way ticket to District 4 that was leaving in the next 45 minutes. Jocelyn stayed with Katniss while they waited, enjoying each other's company a little bit longer. Finally, the train heading to District 4 pulled into view.

"I don't think I have said goodbye to this many people in such a short period of time" Katniss said grabbing her things and swinging them around her shoulder.

"Thanks for coming to see me Katniss-I mean it. If you ever return to the village, I hope you will stop by and see me again."

"Of course I will."

"You have my number right?"

Katniss nodded, "Yes, in my book." 'Along with all my other numbers' she thought, Katniss prayed she never lost her journal.

"Goodbye Katniss."

"Goodbye."

Katniss gave her a hug and headed onto the train, taking a seat in the back. She saw Jocelyn wave at her through the window, Katniss waved back as the train slowly departed.

Katniss was able to enjoy the train ride to District 4 in peace. She had changed back into her old clothes so she wouldn't attract attention to herself and wore her hair down. She thinks not having it tied back made her unrecognizable to the people on the train.

When she arrives at District 4's train station, she sees her Mother waiting for her. It appears her mother just got off of work for she was wearing hospital scrubs. When she approached her, she immediately gives her a hug before saying hello. It was a welcome surprise to her Mother.

They eagerly chat about what had been going on with each other on the train ride back to her Mother's apartment. Mrs. Everdeen had food ordered and delivered to the apartment, and after dinner she and Katniss took a walk along the beach. Katniss realized how much she had missed the warm air and breezes of District 4. While they strolled along her Mother asked, "So-have you decided what you will do now that you are here?"

"Yes" Katniss said brightly and began telling her what her plans were.