I am sitting in the meadow. I always come back here when the nightmares are bad. They haunt my waking and sleeping hours, though their pain is starting to recede, as they move further into the past.

The meadow looks very different now from the carnage it once was. The grass it is growing back quickly, and you can't see the bones anymore. I can feel them though. They are imprinted I my brain. Peeta's too. Somewhere in this mass graveyard, is his entire family. I am lucky to have one member of my family left, though it feels like a small mercy.

Suddenly I am running as I hear the sound of a hovercraft. I need to get to safety. Our house. Peeta's arms. Adrenaline pumps through my body. I force myself to stop. It's just a hovercraft. It can't hurt me. I am walking now, but I still want to get to the house. That noise makes me feel unsafe. That moment when the birds stop singing.

The hovercraft lands in the marketplace. It has caused a large commotion. Hovercrafts are not rare though. But we have a landing area for them, for when people from other districts come to visit. It is a small craft. Definitely a new model. District six has been working hard.

Someone is stepping out now. My breath catches in my throat as I see him. Copper hair, bronze skin, eyes like the sea. I could have been back at the tributes parade again. In the seventy fifth hunger games. Finnick Odair.

…

He looks bewildered, but none the worse for having nearly died at the hands of the mutts. I catch my reflection in the shining side of the hovercraft. I look pale and shocked. Like I've seen a ghost. It isn't far from the truth.

But now I am pushing through the crowd to get to him. I've missed him so much. A minute later I am in his arms. I look up at his smiling face.

'Gave you a shock, did I?" he sounds annoyingly cocky, but I am smiling for the first time in days.

"What happened?" I ask, not really knowing what else to say.

"Well I think you saw," He smiles again, but it doesn't reach his eyes, "I'll tell you the whole story, but let's get out of here first."

I can understand why he wants that. The whole square is watching us open mouthed. I grab Finnick's hand and drag him over toward the victor's village.

"You've been gone for months," I say as I walk, "Where were you?"

"Missed me that much?" he asks cheekily, "It's a long story," he adds as I glare at him reproachfully.

"Well we have plenty of time," I say, opening the door of our house.

…

It takes some time for Finnick to even begin his story. Peeta is as pleased to see our friend as I was. However, we are both curious, so eventually Finnick begins.

"You all saw Gale push me to the mutts," he begins, but is cut off almost immediately by our protests.

"Gale?" asks Peeta, "But I didn't see him."

"Well I did," Finnick glares, "I might have made it out of that godforsaken labyrinth if it wasn't for him."

"He was working for Coin," I explain, "he didn't know what she really was."

Finnick takes this in silence. Then he continues.

"Well it turns out they were only looking for you. But they excrete this poison, so I thought you had all died, I saw you all die. They're like tracker jackers. I bet you guys saw me torn apart by them or something."

Peeta and I do not answer. I am shocked, though I shouldn't be, by Snow's enduring cruelty. He is one person who deserved to die in the terrible arena that was the rebellion.

"Anyway," Finnick continues hurriedly, "after they saw you were gone, they left me alone. I swam as fast as I could away from them, but I was knocked out by this explosion."

"Sorry about that," I mutter, with half a smile.

"When I came around, I was lost, half drowned and wounded. The mutts may not have killed me, but they give a nasty bite."

He holds up his left arm. On the forearm is a horrible scar, like the tooth marks of a scar. It doesn't look like the kind of scar that will heal in a hurry. Peeta flinches.

"I don't know how long I was wondering around in the tunnels, nearly bleeding to death." Finnick continues, "When I found my way out, the capitol was silent. I followed the crowds to Snow's execution. I saw what you did. I think it was best."

I nod gravely. Then ask, "How did you survive in the tunnels?"

"Oh, surviving anywhere that's half submerged with water is pretty easy for me," Finnick gives another cocky grin, but it's clear his time in the tunnels was no picnic.

"But that was all months ago," says Peeta, "Where have you been since then?"

"I was getting to that," Finnick replies, "After the I wondered back into the capitol, looking for answers. It didn't last long. I was bleeding profusely, and I eventually blacked out."

He stares down at the scar on his arm.

"I came around in a hospital in the capitol. I spent a few weeks there, recuperating, and getting an explanation as to what had been going on while we were all in the tunnels. Then I went to district four. I wanted to meet my son."

"What's he like?" asks Peeta, who has always been better at the sentimental stuff than me.

"Like his father," says Finnick with a wink, "well actually he's a bit more like Annie. Sweet."

"When did you decide to come and see us?" I ask, wanting to get on with the story. All of this family talk is making Peeta look hopeful.

"Last week. The medics down in district four suggested a trip away for a bit, the arm isn't healing like it should. So, I came here. I didn't know if you'd still be here to be honest."

I smile, "Where else would I be?"