DISCLAIMER: HG characters do not belong to me.

Chapter 124-Healing

"Move your fingers slowly" the nurse says to Katniss as she eagerly but carefully tries to move her reattached fingers on her left hand.

The sensation strange, Katniss frowns as she looks at the prosthetic area of her middle hand. When the soldiers who rescued Jasper scanned the area, one of them had found her amputated hand under the snow, a small mound raising up from the flat ground catching the soldier's attention. The doctors had explained to Katniss that only her fingers could be saved, for one of the wolves had eaten the middle part of it. A prosthetic was made for the middle and knuckle area and the Capitol doctors had created nerves to help attach her fingers to the prosthetic. The doctors explaining that this was an experimental procedure, they had warned Katniss there was a good chance her fingers would not move and that she would need prosthetic fingers instead. So far though, the experiment seemed to be working while she watched her fingers move.

"How does it feel?" the nurse asks.

"Odd" Katniss says blankly.

"It's a good sign your fingers are moving, don't forget to do the movements I showed you" the nurse says as she lays a hand on Katniss's shoulder before leaving the room.

Katniss sits in silence for a few moments before getting up from her bed and walking over to the window near Jackson's portable crib. She looks down at her son who was sleeping peacefully. She touches his cheek with her reattached fingers, desperate to see if his skin felt the same.

Relieved that it did, she looks out the window and sees that it is raining, spring coming early to the Capitol this year. Wondering if it was snowing in the village, Katniss begins envisioning Morning Sun's and Red Bear's reaction when she shows them her new hand. She chuckles to herself trying to picture their faces when she begins to feel pain again. She was told this was normal but it didn't help to ease her nervousness. She wondered if her ability to hunt will be affected. She knows it is the last thing she should be worrying about, but hunting had always been such an important part of her life, she couldn't imagine no longer being able to do it.

She goes back to her bed and begins watching TV when Gale comes in, returning from his Mother's townhouse.

"Hey beautiful" he says as he bends down and gives her a quick but sweet kiss. She sees he's holding a small bouquet of flowers in hand.

"From Posy" he says seeing her eye what was in his hand.

"Oh that's right, she's on spring break this week" Katniss says, remembering that she was in town.

"She got in today" Gale says as he places the flowers on the table near her bed.

"Hopefully I can see her tomorrow; the doctor says I can be released as long as my bloodwork comes back okay" Katniss says reaching for his hand.

Gale looks at her new hand and says, "Can you move it?"

"I can" Katniss says and begins moving her fingers and hand the way she was instructed to by the nurse.

Gale gives her an encouraging smile but she sees the sadness behind his eyes. They hadn't talked about what happened since she arrived at the hospital three days ago.

"I wonder….if I'll be able to hunt as before" she says looking down.

"It's not your shooting hand" he says.

"True."

"Katniss-now that we are alone I was hoping we could talk…." But before he can finish she holds up a hand and says, "Haymitch stopped by earlier, he told me that Jasper or Steel is dead."

Gale had heard about Jasper's true identity. Steel was his name and he was Marvel's Father, the first person Katniss killed in the games. Despite the number of years that had passed Katniss still rarely spoke about the games, Gale knew that Marvel often lingered in her mind. Once having frequent nightmares about him, she had mentioned only once that all of the tributes from the games never leave her thoughts.

Jasper had lived until he arrived in the Capitol, but his injuries too great, he died soon after he was seen by the doctors. With his identity now known, Gale had learned that he had worked as a jeweler, and that Marvel was his only son. Separated from his wife, she reports they had not been together for almost ten years, but Paylor had her suspicions and the Capitol planned to keep a close watch on her for now.

"Yes-he never regained consciousness" Gale said in response.

"We were both slowly dying, if I had been attacked by the wolves I would have died too. They showed up right after I disarmed him. I had….a chance to kill him, but I couldn't do it. When I saw the wolves I thought that was it, we were both about to be finished off."

"What happened?" Gale asks, taking her hand in his.

"I looked some of the wolves in the eye and they walked right past me. I then activated the distress watch and left it behind and began walking."

"To get Jackson?"

"Yes."

"How did you know where he was?"

"I didn't. I knew I had to get to him, but I let….the wind guide me."

Gales gives her a strange look, he remembered Marlon saying those words to her but had brushed it off as superstition.

Seeing the look on his face she says, "It's hard to explain, but…I've seen….and felt things in the wild territory. It's not something I ever experienced in Panem, not even in our woods in 12. I trusted my senses and I knew which way to go. And then I….."

"What? Tell me" Gale says, anxious to hear more.

"Saw Prim, standing by a tree."

"You imagined you saw her you mean."

"No I-actually saw her. She led me to Jack."

"Katniss-in the past you had seen things that weren't there."

"It wasn't a hallucination Gale! This wasn't the first time I had seen Prim. I saw her once before, Strong Wind, he said the spirits of the ones we love sometimes show themselves."

Seeing how upset she had become, Gale nodded his head and squeezed her hand tight. Wanting to show his support he says, "Did Prim-say anything?"

"Not this time, she spoke to me last time. She said she missed you."

"How come you didn't tell me this before?"

She sighs and looks down, as if in shame. She keeps her eyes down as she says, "I knew you would have a hard time believing it. And-while I appreciate you coming with me when we go to the village, you don't know the tribe's ways like I do."

Gale did not dispute this, while he was a welcomed guest in the village, it was apparent that's what he and his daughters were-guests. With Katniss, the tribe members had acted different and not as formal with her. While he wanted Katniss to maintain the close relationship she had with the tribe, a part of him was slightly envious that the tribe knew her in ways he didn't, but he also knew if not for the tribe he and Katniss would still be living separate lives.

"I know" he says gently.

"When Prim disappeared, I found Jack hidden in the tree. He was safe. I knew I just had to hold on a little bit longer."

"Do you think Prim is the reason the wolves didn't attack?"

"I don't know. I was standing my ground while Jasper was lying on the ground. We were both bleeding. I think-there's another reason they might not have attacked."

Gale gives her a questioning look and she says, "The area he led me to, I'm pretty sure it is an old tribal burial ground. The tribe has taken me to theirs, but they told me there was once many tribes who lived in the area and I think we ended up at one of those old burial grounds."

"When we arrived some of the men would not follow."

"One is to stay away, respect the dead. Of course, the circumstances for me were different, I couldn't leave. But-I can't help but wonder, if-the spirits of the dead saved me from the wolves. I know it sounds crazy."

"It's not crazy" Gale says fiercely, letting his wife know there was nothing wrong with her theory.

"Gale-there's something else you need to know."

"Yeah?"

"Jasper, or Steel-he-had been watching me, he saw me in our teepee with the girls, he saw me breastfeeding Jackson, he saw us".

She sees his face become angry as he says, "I know, I saw a hole cut in our teepee. But how did he remain hidden from the tribe?'

"He had the invisibility suit, the ones the soldiers wore when they rescued you and the others from the compound."

Gale gets a look of concern on his face and he says, "The President needs to know this."

Katniss nods and then turns to look towards the soft sounds she hears coming from Jackson's crib, the baby finally waking up.

"I'll get him" Gale says as he goes over and lifts his son up and holds him above his head, making funny faces at the three month causing the baby to laugh in response.

Katniss smiles as she watches Gale with their son. While she knew he loved his daughters more than anything, she knew Gale was secretly thrilled that he now had a son.

She knew she should have told him the whole truth regarding what she had seen from living with the tribe, the visions and what she thought they meant but she couldn't, she wasn't ready. Not now.


June 29 (Wednesday)

"Mom! Avie won't leave me alone" Sienna says angrily to Katniss as they sat on the train. Katniss taking Sienna, Avery, and Jackson to District 4 to visit her Mother.

"Avie you know Sienna wants to be left alone when she's practicing her numbers and letters" Katniss says to her.

"She's not in school yet, I don't know why she has to do it now" Avery protests.

"She wants to be ready, you know your sister enjoys her studies."

"I don't, I want to play!"

"Well, you can't always play, besides, we are on a train. How about you help me get Jack's bottle ready?"

Avery nods her head and holds the now six-month old baby in her lap as Katniss reaches for his bag. After returning to work the beginning of April since recovering from her injuries, she was currently on summer break. She had begun only breastfeeding Jackson at the beginning and end of the day, just as she did with Sienna. During the day, he was given a bottle and had recently begun eating solid foods.

Katniss allows Avery to feed Jackson his bottle as they sit on the fast moving train. They were to arrive in District 4 in five hours and Katniss looked forward to relaxing near the beach and taking the kids swimming.

Besides spending time with her Mother, she had made other plans as well.


"Hello Katniss" Annie says as she opens the door wide to let Katniss come in.

"Hi" Katniss says as she heads inside with Jackson secured in his carrier strapped to the front of her body.

Once inside, Annie takes Katniss's baby bag and leads her into the kitchen. Pouring Katniss a glass of lemonade, she hands it to her and says, "He's so precious, can I hold him?"

"Of course" Katniss says as she unstraps Jackson and hands him to Annie as she begins drinking the freshly poured drink.

"Hello Jackson, my gosh you look like your Father" Annie says looking at the baby with joy in her eyes.

"He's definitely a Hawthorne. I think he and Avery are going to look a lot alike when they get older."

"He's six months?"

"Yeah, seven months in a couple of weeks."

"I miss holding a baby, Finnick and I talked about having as many children as the powers that be allowed."

"Is Zale here?" Katniss asks, becoming uneasy and wanting to change the subject.

"No, he's out with friends, you know teenagers. He will be here tonight for dinner with us."

"Can't wait to look forward to Sienna being sixteen" Katniss jokes, eliciting a small chuckle from Annie.

"It's not so bad. He's a good kid. But right now he'd rather be with his friends than me."

"We've all been there" Katniss says, remembering how at that age she was with Gale in the woods more than with her Mother.

"Tell me what's been happening in your life" Annie says as she moves Jackson to her other hip.

Katniss begins filling Annie in with all that happened regarding Jasper, who he was, how he had found her and how he had died.

"Panem News Network didn't report all that" Annie said, listening intently.

"No-they wouldn't. The Capitol is still trying to figure out who on the inside gave him the invisibility suit."

Katniss then shows Annie her reconstructed hand to which Annie said, "Wow, you would never know, unless you look really closely."

"While I don't have as much flexibility as I once did, but I can't complain."

"Can you still hunt?"

"I can. It took some getting used to, I have to hold the bow differently."

Later on they have dinner with Zale. Looking even more like his Father than the last time Katniss saw him, she tried not to stare while chewing her food.

Not liking the uncomfortable silence while they ate, Katniss tried making small talk by asking Zale what his plans were once he finishes school for he would be finishing in less than two years.

Zale shrugs and says, "Not sure yet. I don't want to be a fisherman like everyone else here. I'd like to do something fun and exciting, like maybe fly hovercrafts."

"My brother in law is a pilot. If you want, maybe I can arrange for you to talk with him."

Zale perks up and says, "Really?"

"Yeah. I will talk to Vick, that's my husband's brother. I'll see the next time he thinks he'll be in 4 and I will let your Mom know."

Zale smiles brightly as he turns to look at his Mom for a response, but frowns as he sees his Mother staring off into space. Katniss observing Annie's unusual, but typical behavior, she tries to distract Zale by telling him what she knew about life as a pilot.

Once Katniss had run out of things to talk about, Annie snaps out of her trance and prepares dessert. Once they finish eating Katniss takes Jackson into the bathroom to change him and when she opens the door, is startled to see Zale standing there.

"Here's my number. If you talk to your brother in law, call my phone. I can't trust that my Mother will pass the message along if you talk to her."

"Okay" Katniss says as she takes the piece of paper from his hand.

"I can't wait to leave this District. Get out and see the rest of Panem. We never go anywhere."

"Your Mom enjoys living a quiet life I think."

"She's crazy" Zale says dismissively.

"She's not crazy. She-we-all of us former Victors have been through a lot" Katniss says defensively.

"I know, I know. You all have gone through things the rest of us can't understand. But my Father has been dead for almost 17 years, it's time for her to get over it."

"It's not that easy."

"You seem normal."

"Trust me-I too once had issues. Strange behaviors. I just-handle it differently now."

"Well maybe you can tell my Mom your secrets."

Katniss got a chill hearing the words come out of Zale's mouth, sounding exactly like Finnick.

"Everyone handles things differently. I better go, I need to get him to bed" Katniss says looking down at Jackson who was now squirming and fussing in her arms.

Katniss says her goodbyes and tells Annie she would write soon. Much better at keeping in contact than before, Katniss enjoyed getting Annie's quarterly letters in the mail.

That night, while nursing Jackson watching as he began drifting off to sleep, she wondered how her visit with Rory would go tomorrow. She was taking Sienna, Avery, and Jackson to his apartment and it would be the first time she was seeing Rory without Gale or the rest of his family present.

After she puts Jackson down in his portable crib, she quietly sneaks out of the guest room and sees her daughters in the living room. Now in their pajamas, Katniss sits with them on the couch as they watch TV. Once the animated movie they were watching was finished, Katniss then reads to them before they too drift off to sleep leaning up against her on the couch, Katniss gently covering both of them up with a blanket before sneaking back into the room.