"I'm sorry what," Katniss stuttered.
"You have powers," Haymitch sat in a chair that was in front of the fire.
"Yes," She said frustrated, "the sight. I can see things from the past when I enter a room."
Haymitch laughed and rubbed his hands in front of the fire.
"Why are you laughing?" Katniss could not make sense of this man. "Why are you laughing?" She repeated again.
"Because other than teaching you how to wield a bow, which by the way I am eternally grateful you were able to shoot so perfectly. Your father and mother did nothing to prepare you for your destiny."
He'd brought up the other point she'd been meaning to ask. "How do you think, I a girl, am going to topple a King who is an utter madman with a powerful wizard by his side."
"Because you are the prophecy."
"What prophecy?" Katniss stared at him in the face she didn't understand why she was so important.
"From the line of Everdeen, a child will come that will look in the mirror and wipe the frost from the land." Haymitch leaned back. "When Snow heard of it he, like many others, thought your father was the embodiment of the prophecy and that is why he sent for him. It is the reason your father ceased to exist."
Katniss closed her eyes. "I told him not to go, much the way King Daniel told his brother and his father not to go. He warned them it was a trap." Katniss opened her eyes and stared at Haymitch. "I felt the wrongness of his leaving us and he didn't listen. He left and never came back."
"That's why I had to reach you." Haymitch said, "Snow thought he'd gotten rid of the threat. But the prophecy persisted. He found out about you and your sister. I traveled to find you, as when you were born the stars aligned outside. I thought you were dead when my Jabberjay did not come back quickly. When you crashed through the forest armed with a man's bow and arrows, I knew you were the one."
Katniss wrapped her arms around her middle. "So you were waiting for me."
"Yes."
Maybe she was starting to believe she was something more than bad luck. She looked at the man. "Explain how you think I can do what it is you said I can do?"
"As I said just a few moments ago you will do this in the past."
Katniss shook her head. There was no way she could do what he said.
"Katniss, have a seat," Haymitch pointed to a spot on the floor.
Sitting down she exhaled.
"Your mother is a descendant of Paylor. A great and powerful woman who ruled this land and all lands peacefully until she passed and Snow took over. Her dying breath was the prognostication of your birth." Haymitch leaned on his staff and looked at her in the face.
Katniss couldn't believe it but at the same time, there was something in his look, the same one she'd seen on King Daniel's face when he looked at her. "I am not sure if I believe."
"I thought you might not, given that you were told the whole of your life you were a blight." Haymitch sighed. "You have the ability to see into the past."
"You're the only one who knows I can do that. I never told anyone about it."
"Not even your mother?"
"Especially my mother, she would've frowned upon my ability. She wanted me to be a gentle Lady like herself. I was a disappointment to her."
"Ugh, what did your parents do to you," Haymitch muttered under his breath. "Your mother could have taught you about your abilities."
"Are you saying my mother had the same ability as me?" Katniss knew her mother was able to help many of the sick that came to her. She would have Effie make poultices that would help those who came to her mother. It was one of the ways they survived all those years after her father disappeared.
"No, she did not. Nonetheless, she knew of such things. Your mother was a great healer in her time. I suppose she set her knowledge to the wayside when she married your father." Haymitch speculated, before looking at her. "No matter. I shall teach you how to harness your ability."
"What do you mean by 'teach me'?"
"When you walk into a room you can transport yourself into the past of that room correct?"
"Yes," Katniss nodded, wondering how he knew that.
"Have you ever been able to interact with the scenery or are you merely an observer?"
"I've only been an observer." Katniss wondered where he was going with his questioning.
"Have you ever encountered a door?"
"Today was the first time I encountered a door."
"Good, good," Haymitch nods, then from his robes he pulls out a flask. He opens it and takes a drink. "What if I told you there are other doors in a space and one in particular that can transfer you into the past."
"How?"
"Close your eyes, and concentrate on the room. To the moment where the fire went on."
Katniss reluctantly closed her eyes. Suddenly she was in the room, it was empty then she heard Haymitch's voice. "Make a fire."
Katniss wasn't sure where he was or why she could hear his voice, but she knelt by the fireplace. She reached out and withdrew her hand.
"Concentrate."
Katniss looked up and then she forced her hand to pick up the flint. She thought her hand would not be able to do it but the flint felt real and she marveled at the feeling. Encouraged, she took a stick and began rubbing it to make a fire.
The door opened and Haymitch came inside the room, she could see herself standing motionless in the room. Ryker began following Haymitch. Just as the smoke began Haymitch stood behind her. He grinned and winked at her. He waved his hand just as the flame came to life. Katniss fell back as she realized she was the one who had started the fire. She snapped back into her time and she found herself holding the flint in her dirty hands. "Haymitch," she called out, holding the flint to him.
"Good now concentrate once more," Haymitch instructed, his eyes closed as he was moving his hand slowly in a circle.
Katniss closed her eyes once more. She found herself in the empty room before she even made an appearance earlier. The flint she'd brought back with her was still at the fireplace.
"Take a deep breath," Haymitch said, "Focus on the shift through time, see its fabric, woven together, like a tapestry of different threads."
She could feel his presence over her shoulder. She inhaled deeply and the room began to morph around her fragmenting like shiny glass as she broke a boundary. Katniss focused on the glass pieces and saw they weren't glass; they looked like fine webbing. A small silvery line was being stretched before her.
"Follow the thread Katniss," Haymitch instructed.
Katniss nodded, and she focused on the silvery thread in front of her. It led to a door she hadn't seen before.
"I want you to go through the door, but mark it. Put your hand on the rope and touch the door at the same time. This way you'll be able to find your way back."
"Are you not coming with me?"
"This is as far as I can go," Haymitch explained. "Now do as I told you."
Katniss did as he bid. The door and the string turned a golden orange. Her heart beat erratically as the door opened before her. Taking a step, she found herself face to face with a handsome man with eyes the color of a bluest jewel. He was taller than her and he looked straight at her.
"Who are you and why are you in my room?"
Katniss was fascinated by him and was rendered speechless.
"Why are you dressed as a man?"
She had no answers, how could she explain she appeared in his room by magic? She did the only thing she could think of to distract him long enough to get out. Katniss grabbed him by the shoulders, lifted herself on tiptoe, and kissed him. Her heart nearly exploded and her soul felt as if it left her body. It was like tasting heaven.
She opened her eyes briefly and saw he too was enthralled with her chaste kiss. When he extended his hand she saw the mark on his wrist. This was her soulmate.
She smiled.
It was then someone called, "Peeta," from the other side of his chamber's door.
"What?" Peeta called.
Katniss didn't want to be caught. It would be disastrous for her to be found in the castle. She closed her eyes and found the golden string and followed it back to the door, and back to the safety of her time with Haymitch.
"Peeta," she whispered, touching her lips.
"There you see that is one example of how you have the power to move through time."
