There is silence. But it isn't the relaxed silence of an ending. I can sense that there is more coming. Finnick looks over to me, as if for reassurance, so I ask,

"What do you want?"

It comes out harsher than I'd meant it to and for a second Finnick looks hurt, so I repeat the question in a softer tone. There is a pause. Then Finnick answers.

"I want you to come with me to district two. I need answers."

"From Gale?" Peeta asks, "He won't tell you why he tried to kill you. It was Coin's orders and Gale is your perfect little soldier. A killing machine."

Peeta struggles to keep the bitterness out of his voice as. I know he never liked Gale, and he blames him for Prim's death. I do too to be honest. But I don't think going to him will make much difference. Gale doesn't blame himself for my sister' death, as he only came up with the method, but I hate that he shared it with Coin, just in the hope of getting a shiny badge. I wouldn't describe Gale as a killing machine though. He was my best friend for most of my childhood. Only now I've seen a part of him that I can't un see.

"Let's leave tomorrow," I say, with conviction I don't feel.

Peeta gives me a pleading look and even Finnick looks shocked. I am surprised at myself. I don't want to see Gale ever again. His face just reminds me of the sister I lost in the war.

"Finnick is right, we need answers," I say, "And even if we don't get them out of Gale, the best we can get is some kind of apology. Or revenge."

Peeta rolls his eyes. He doesn't like it when I act like this, like that tribute who killed so easily in the arena. He doesn't understand, even after all this time. Survivors aren't pure.

…

We set out at dawn the next day. The hovercraft waits outside the house. I hesitate as I step into its metallic interior, but Peeta steadies my shaking hands, and we board together.

I stare out of the window in silence for the entire trip, while Finnick and Peeta talk. Travel between districts is normal now, but we still keep to our usual areas of trade. Except district twelve. No more of us are going to die in the coal mines. We are the district of medicine now. I wonder what Finnick will do in district four. I wonder what Gale is doing in two. Probably building weapons of mass destruction. He has quite a talent for it.

I stare out over the districts as we pass them. District four, bordering the aquamarine sea, district seven, with its thick pine forests stretching up toward our hovercraft. They don't look like they have seen war so recently. But I know better. Down there, far away from the innocent skies through which we fly, are people desperately mourning the many who have been taken from them, trying to rebuild their shattered lives.

Finnick comes and sits beside me. I notice he has a piece of rope clutched in his hands.

"You still do that?" I ask, gesturing to it,

"Yeah," he replies, eyes focused on district one as it passes beneath us, "Just because it's over, doesn't mean it never happened."

I understand him. Once you've been in the arena, once you've fought in a war, you are never the same again. Gale never had that experience for fighting for his life. Not like we did. Me and Peeta and Finnick. He didn't understand what it is to take another life. I think he does now.

"We're nearly there," Peeta's voice drifts over to us from where he's sitting, a little way away, "Pilot says get ready for landing."

…

District two is much changed, the great mountain has opened up again, and it controls weaponry and masonry as it always did. We depart the hovercraft, and head into the main square. It is much larger than the one in district twelve, and more richly decorated.

"So, where do we go now?" I ask. I have no idea where Gale lives.

Apparently Finnick does however, though I have no idea how he found out. Probably one of his contacts in the capitol. He leads us through the streets of the main town in two. The buildings are large, nice. Peeta stares about him in wonder, I keep my eyes pinned on the road.

Soon we come to an impressively ornate building. As two controls masonry, their architecture is some of the best of all the districts, apart from the capitol of course. Gale has certainly come far from living in a tiny house in district twelve. Part of me is glad of this. A mind like Gale's shouldn't be confined to coal mines.

Finnick strides up to the door and knocks, undaunted by the imposing structure of Gale's home. Peeta and I exchange glances. Gale's mother comes to the door. I am surprised. Somehow, I never imagined that she and his siblings would still be living with them. But of course, Gale's family were always a priority to him. I can't stop thinking that surely, he can't be the murderer we think of him as.

After exchanging pleasantries with Finnick, she leads us through the house to see Gale. As I pass, she shoots me a pitying smile. Clearly, she heard about Prim. Or maybe she hasn't. most of my life has been sad enough to warrant such a look.

Gale is in his study, a high-ceilinged room, with large windows that fill it with bright, natural light. Once again, I find myself comparing it to the dark, cramped home he once had in district twelve. Gale himself sits at a desk. As we come in, he starts. Can I see guilt in his face? Or is it just surprise.

"Catnip," he murmurs quietly, as he stands up to greet us.