A/N – Thanks for sticking with me. If you haven't figure it out, I think it will all take a little more time. I appreciate all of the reviews.

To wolfsbaneeclipse – Belated thank you! I've been busy framing your kind review I've spent way too much time in 'this' world for a grown person, but I feel my justification is your review.

Chapter 10 – Road to Freedom

"You can take all the tea in China
Put it in a big brown bag for me
Sail right around the seven oceans
Drop it straight into the deep blue sea

You can't stop us on the road to freedom
You can't keep us 'cause our eyes can see
Men with insight, men in granite
Knights in armor bent on chivalry"

Tupelo Honey - Van Morrison

Katniss' POV
I leave the boys to their wrestling as I head inside to lend a hand making dinner. Hazelle joins me in the kitchen. "It's so nice to have you here for a little bit," she says as she minces some fresh herbs from her window box.
"Thank you so much for inviting me, I love being here; I realize now it's too quiet at my house."
She extends her already generous hospitality, "You do know you're welcome to stay as long as you like. I know you can take care of yourself, and there's Haymitch, Sae and Peeta, but you know I still worry about you. You're hardly a guest here, you're family to us. I really mean that."
"Oh Hazelle, I don't think I'll be here more than a week, but I do appreciate the offer."

We turn to more mundane topics, like what happened at school today, and type and cost of the produce at the local market. After a bit I wonder about the boys so I check on their progress. Gale and Rory each have two boys and they're refereeing them or coaching them on the moves they learned earlier. As if he senses my presence, Gale looks up and meets my eye, and calls me over with head motion. "Hey Garrett, Marshall, hold up a sec. I want you to meet someone."
The two boys in front of him stop their struggle and look up. I feel a little uncomfortable, unsure of what kind of reception the old 'mockingjay' would garner in District 2, especially if their dads lost their lives in the rebellion. But I trust Gale enough that he wouldn't put me in that situation, even with pre-teens.
"Hi Guys, nice to meet you, I'm Gale's friend, Katniss."
"I'm Marshall, Vick's told me about you," pipes up the smaller of the two, "Did you really shoot that bag of apples and explode all of those supplies in the Games?"

"Hi I'm Garrett," says his towheaded wrestling partner.
"Hi. Yeah, I really did," I say in response to Marshall.
"Cool! Can you teach us to shoot a bow and arrow?"
"I don't have my bow with me. After the rebellion they've cracked down on people travelling with weapons, so I couldn't travel with it without paperwork. Maybe we can do it next time I come to visit." Gales eyebrows shoot up, like he never considered that I'd come back.
I add, "Or Gale could teach you, he's pretty handy with a bow." Gale is shaking his head, but the boys don't care anyway.
"I want to learn from someone that can shoot the apple bag open!"
Rory, Vick and the other boy have made their way over now.
Gale interjects, "Katniss, this is Clayburn,"
"Hi, I'm Katniss."
"Hi" he says quietly.
Gale sizes up Rory, then turns to the boys and says "I've got one last wrestling move to teach you in honor of Katniss. My buddy Radix taught this one to me. It's called the bow and arrow!"...

Xxx
Garrett's mom comes by to pick him up first. She thanks Gale and Rory, then hustles Garrett and his younger sister to march back up the hill to get dinner on the table. Vick and the other two boys are taking turns showing me the moves they learned. Some definitely look more effective than others, but more importantly they're having fun. Shortly after Clayburn's mom pulls up in a sleek motor car. I'm fascinated by these vehicles. The fact that here private citizens can own them is groundbreaking, but still no on in Twelve owns them since the roads are so bad. From the front yard, I can see that she takes her time fussing over her hair, touching up her make up in her mirror (and did she just check her cleavage?), then getting out of the car and making her way over to Gale. Even from this distance I can sense Gale tensing up. She's very lively, laughing a little too often and she keeps touching Gale's arm. I wait until I see the muscles in Gale's jaw tense when I know he's really had enough, to walk over and bail him out. I hear her say, "How many times do I have to tell you Gale, just call me Brandy!"
"Thanks Mrs. Screeding, but I'm old fashioned that way."
"You should loosen up a little then," she says touching his arm for probably the fourth time in as many minutes. Gale turns my direction as he hears me approach them. Mrs. Screeding turns too and when she recognizes me she has a visceral reaction, but she covers it up quickly. Her eyes dart from me to Gale and back to me again.
Gale decides to ignore her initial reaction and says "Katniss, this is Clayburn's mom, Mrs. Screeding."
"Hi Mrs. Screeding, nice to meet you. Clayburn seems like a great kid!"
"Thanks." She says with a nervous laugh. "We'd better get going, it's getting late." She calls Clayburn to come over and she whisks him to the car. I notice she seems like she's shielding him from us, physically placing herself between us and Clayburn the whole way to the car.

When the car finally pulls away, Gale shakes his head saying "Thanks for the save."
"Anytime. But she got even stranger after I came over."
"Yeah, I noticed. I think she's not a fan of yours, or maybe more specifically not a fan of the rebellion."
"Okay, but she sure seems to be a fan of yours."
He just rolls his eyes.
He looks over to where his brothers and Marshall are still trying their moves with mixed success. He asks if Marshall wants to stay for dinner, but Marshall says he should be getting home. He doesn't live too far, just a few minutes further down the hill away from town.

xxx

Hazelle's POV
I pull together some stew, it's nothing fancy, even though we have a guest. Still, Katniss is sweet and raves about how delicious it is, and what a great comfort food stew is. She even comments with a laugh that ironically it reminds her of home more than what she's been eating at home lately.

She's been here just over one day, and I can already see that Katniss and Gale's bond is pretty much as strong as ever. I know he has Danicey, but you wouldn't know it the way I catch him gazing at Katniss in the split second before he catches himself.
Their connection is so deep, but now, it's hard to see a path for them to find each other romantically, if that was ever in the cards. I am well aware that he and I both thought they were destined to be a couple, as did probably did half of the District, though we never spoke about it directly. I suppose she has Peeta, who is crazy about her. Everyone knows there wasn't an unkind bone in his body, until Snow got a hold of him. He was too much like his own father. I don't know how long Danicey will be around. I know better than to voice my opinion, but I think Rory's character assessment is not too far from the mark.

We talk about school, work and the upcoming week. Suddenly Posy interjects and says to Katniss, "I like your necklace."
"Thanks. Peeta gave it to me", she says with a nervous smile, as her hand flies up to ensure it's there.
"Can I have it?" Posy asks innocently. I am shocked! I remind myself to work on manners with her more often.
"Posy! That's not polite! You shouldn't ask for other people's things!" I reprimand her.
"Well, I can show it to you, but it's really special to me, or otherwise I would have considered giving it to you." She tells her. I know my son, I can sense Gale is trying to be calm, but he's tensing up just hearing this topic of Peeta's gift.
Posy continues her line of questioning, "Why is it so special?"

Katniss leans in closer to Posy's ear, "It's kind of a secret, I'll share the secret with you. It's not just a necklace, it's a locket."
"What's a locket? Does it lock?"
"This one doesn't have a lock, but it does have something inside."Now that she mentions it, I recall it being a locket from watching the Quell. But from the camera angle televised the audience never got to see what was inside.
She deftly unclasps the necklace from her neck, places it on the table in front of Posy and opens it to show 3 photos. It's Prim, her mother and Gale. Gale and I, and perhaps Rory too, are a bit shocked at the revelation that Gale's included there.
"Why did Peeta put pictures of Prim, your mom and my brother in there?" Posy asks point blank.
She takes a breath before she answers, since it's still hard for her to talk about Prim.
"Well, Peeta's smart. He knows these are the people closest to my heart." Maybe it's wishful thinking but I think I saw her blush just a little when she said that.
"Your family!" Posy surmises.
"Yes, my family." Katniss agrees. I'm not certain if Gale likes that conclusion or not, but I guess it's moot. I glance over to him and he's nodding in agreement.

Xxxx
Katniss' POV

After dinner I help Posy get ready for bed, but she begs Gale for a bedtime story. He relents easily, clearly flattered that only a story from Gale will do. He tucks her into Hazelle's bed with lots of pomp and circumstance, fluffing the blankets and straightening the sheets no less than a dozen times. Posy eats it up and giggles the whole time. Finally, he settles them down, dims the lights and lays on the bed with her. Meanwhile I make myself comfortable on the floor, propping my back on the side of Hazelle's bed.
"What kind of story do you want tonight?"
"One with animals!"
"Alrightie then, I'll tell you a story I learned about at work. A long time ago, in the country that was here before Panem - or maybe even before that, the people that lived further north would tell this story to their children of their tribes. It's called the theft of daylight."
"It's about stealing?" Posy confims.
"Yeah, you shouldn't steal, but this is still an interesting story with animals. The story starts such a long time ago, that there aren't any stars in the sky, no moon and no sun. It's always dark. There's a magical creature called the Raven."
"Like the black bird?"
"Yup, exactly like the bird. But this one is white."
"A white raven?"
"Yeah, weird, huh?"
"Yeah!"
"Raven finds out that there's a very rich old man that has the stars, the moon and the sun but he keeps them all to himself - he doesn't share them. Raven thinks it could be useful for everyone to have light, so they can see each other, so it's easier to find food, and stuff like that, so he decides he wants to go get the light. But he finds out that the old man keeps everything heavily guarded, inside special locked boxes, hidden in his house. Raven makes up a plan to get it."
"What kind of plan?"
"The best kind: a sneaky one! Since Raven is magical he transforms himself into a hemlock needle. Do you remember what that looks like? Is it big?"
"No it's tiny, like my finger nail."
"Exactly! He makes himself so tiny that he slips himself into the water glass of the rich man's daughter, and she drinks him up with out knowing it. Somehow, I guess magically, she gets pregnant from this and the baby is Raven."
"Is that how baby's are made? From drinking a leaf?"
"No, not normally."
I feel Gale's knee nudge my head, panicking in case this is not the end of this discussion. But thankfully Posy drops the subject.
"So, when Raven is born he cries and cries. His grandfather, the very rich old man, wants to make baby Raven happy. Baby Raven keeps pointing to one of the boxes, so to quiet him down, the grandfather hands him the box with the stars inside. It works, Raven stops crying. The baby plays with the box, but then he opens the box and then the stars fly up and out the chimney. Once they're outside they fly into the sky into the constellations that I've shown you in the sky."
"Ooh! Like the bear! That's my favorite!
"Yup, exactly, you're paying attention! But back to our story... Later on, maybe the next day Raven starts to cry again. A lot! Really hard! Like most loving grandfathers, the old man wanted to make his grandson happy. Raven kept pointing to the box of the moon. So to pacify him the grandfather let's him play with the second box, the one that holds the moon. The grandfather doesn't want to lose the moon too, so he blocks up the chimney first. Baby Raven plays with the box, but then opens it up and lets the moon roll right out the front door! The moon too flies up to the sky."
"Oh Dear! Dreadful!" Exclaims Posy - where she learns these phrases from, I'll never know.
"Yeah, so now Raven has given the world the moon and the stars! But he's not satisfied. A few days later, Raven has a huge crying fit. He keeps pointing to the box of the sun. The grandfather doesn't want to give it to him, but Raven is relentless, he keeps on crying. Finally, the grandfather gives in. He gives him the box, but everyone is watching closely. He can't just throw the sun up the chimney or roll it out the door. So Raven waits until everyone falls asleep. The he changes into his bird form and he takes the Sun Box into his beak and he flies up the chimney with it. Once he's free he shows the box to his friends, but they don't believe the sun is inside. So Raven opens up the box to prove it to them, the sun escapes and flies into the sky, where it is today, lighting our world. The end"
"Is that story real?" Posy asks.
"Do you mean is it true?"
"Yeah, is it true?"
"I don't think so, but I still think it's a cool story?"
"Me too!"
"Night Pose, Love you."
"Love you Gale"
Just hearing that warms my heart.

He gives her a peck on the top of her head, and ruffles her hair before he snatches her nose between his bent index and middle fingers. She giggles again, but less energetically now.

We close the door behind us as we step into the hallway.

Gale says he needs to get back and take care of a few things before he hits the sack, but we'll catch up tomorrow. It's been a long day for me too, so I just nod in acknowledgement and climb up the the stairs to Posy's room as he rounds the bannister and descends the other set of stairs. I hear the pull of the door as he lets himself out.

I'm tired, but know that I won't be able to sleep yet. I am scanning around looking for my knotting rope, when I see a little paper bag set on the bedside table. That wasn't there before. It's a small worn brown kraft bag, reused from something before, with some writing on it. It's a half-hearted attempt at forging my mother's handwriting, "Steep 7 minutes, drink 3 - 4 x per day". Tucked inside are a few handful of dried yellow pom-pom flowers: chamomile, my mother's most reliable solution for insomnia, headaches, menstrual cramps and allergies! We were always directed to be on the look out for their tiny little buds. It was our running joke that unless you broke a bone, my mom would send you home with camomile tea. This little "anonymous" gift is so "Gale", that it makes me crack a small smile. I don't know if I'll need it tonight, but I'll probably sleep better knowing it's there.