AUTHOR'S NOTE

I wrote this as part of A candle for the Caribbean antology. It has been edited since, just a little. Hope you like it.

WARNINGS

Natural Disaster, Canonical Character death

DISCLAIMER

I do not own THG characters nor Collateral Beauty.

CHAPTER 2 – TIME

Dear Time ,

You are rotten. You destroy and take and separate. You are not fair. We are all at your whim . You have no mercy.

Katniss

Of all the colleges in the world and he has to be in the same as me. The one I choose to transfer after two years because it had a better program in Earth Science that the one back home.

I have not forgotten him even if I have really tried. He has the same bluer than the sky eyes, the ashen hair, stocky build and dimpled smile. He also has a gait now, probably because of the prosthetic.

I cannot forget him because I blame him after all, for what happened to my family. Had he not been there, I would have been by myself and have certainly prevented my sister from running outside. And had he not had save me, I would not be in the position of owning him my life.

And just my luck, we share three classes. I just hope he does not remember me. I would certainly like to forget the person from whom I lost a leg and did not even got a thank you note. But to be sure I just stay out of his way.

After a couple of weeks he notices me for the first time, and I see a hint of recognition in his eyes. I bolt, hoping to mislead him into thinking he has mistaken me. I redouble my efforts to stay out of his radar.

As the semester goes by, I think he has beaten my best efforts to be invisible to his sight. I know because he has started to stare at me. At first it was just that feeling that somebody is looking at you and when you turn your head there is no one there. But then, he started to appear in the vicinity every time I had that feeling. And now, he is rudely staring straight at me. And I ignore him the best I can.

He seems to had make a decision and walks to where I am seated at the cafeteria. I start gathering my things so I can leave before he arrives, but it seems that my bag has decided to shrink just about this moment and I am still struggling with my things by the time he arrives at my side.

"Hi… " He says with too much struggle. "I was wondering if you happened to be Katniss?"

"Yes. I am Katniss." I say curtly and, as my books and laptop have finally agree to cooperate with me, I turn and try to leave before he says anything more. I have just taken one step before he starts speaking again.

"I am sorry I could not save her. I am sorry for your loss." He says apologetically. And probably sincerely, but I am beyond reason. All the anger and frustration and guilt I have felt for the last eight years just explodes.

"You have no right to be sorry! It was your fault I lost my family. Had you not been there I would still have a loving father and the nicest sister and a dotting mother, now I only have a drunken uncle and no one else to love. You took that away from me. You deserved to lose your leg for what was taken from me. Don't talk to me again. Ever." Then, I left.

KPKPKPKPKP

It turns out that yelling at someone with a prosthetic leg, at the middle of the campus cafeteria and in front of several students and the head of the psychology department that say person deserved to loss a limb, is considered verbal assault. I thought how now I could lose my student enrollment and again because of Peeta Mellark. It was his fault she was in this jeopardizing position.

After some deliberation of the Student Behavior Committee, she was given an option: she was to attend therapy and avoid assaulting any more students. She accepted of course.

Katniss was taken in therapy sessions by the same man that had witnessed her outburst, Dr. Aurelius. At first he just asked about some irrelevant things and she was relieved she had to answer such easy questions. But she had to known better, by the third session he asked about her parents, then about her sister and then about her life growing up as an orphan. And when he asked why she blamed Peeta, she lost it again. How could he not see that she was the victim here, she was alone and now she was on probation because of him.

"You are right about that Katniss." He answered and she felt some sort of victory to have him on her side on this one. Until he continued.

"Had Peeta not talked on your behalf on his hearing, you won't be on probation, instead you would no longer be a student here. Something to muse over, don't you think?" He dismissed her and asked her to be back when she was ready to stop feeling sorry about herself and blaming others for Life.

Katniss was left speechless, why did he was so set on interfering with her life. She mused that he must feel guilty himself, right? This was not from kindness but from trying to lessen his guilt.

She was heading to her dorm glad from the reprieve of those unnecessary therapy sessions when someone reach her and started walking besides her. It was a black teenager with pierced ears, squared haircut, a skate on his arm and a messenger bag over his shoulder.

"Things don't last forever." He said. She did not think he was talking to her so just continued walking.

"I am not responsible if they broke or separate or rot. They just return to their most natural state. And I am not the illusion you humans created in order to feel in control, to have a reference. I am what allows you to exist and to evolve. I am what allows you to right a wrong. I am a present." He said and took another familiar note out of his jeans pocket. It was addressed to Time.

"You are unfair." She answered. "You were not a present for my sister, because she was 9 when you decided she no longer needed you."

"I was enough for her. She was here for a reason and she fulfill it. You in the other hand, I should be angry with you. Wasting time as if it is not precious. Letting me go by without really embracing me and what you can achieve. Everyone will have me, as long as they need me."

"Please enlighten me, why would I need you now?" I asked, annoyed to be called a waste of time.

"Is it not that obvious? You need me to heal. You need me so you can receive what comes next."

"And what is that?" Katniss asked, fearing his answer.

"Love."

Katniss did not wanted Love, but she understood now she was given the opportunity to heal, and she really wanted to stop surviving and start living. She went to her next appointment with Dr. Aurelius decided to do just that.