She had never expected them to be friends.

From the moment she waltzed on that elevator, undressing herself in front of all of them until she was in nothing more than her birthday suit, making fun of her for her purity, Katniss hated Johanna Mason.

She ignited this feeling of… rage inside of Katniss, though she couldn't understand why or place the reason for the rage. She just knew Peeta was watching Johanna as she stripped, and if that wasn't enough, she started flirting with Peeta.

And he had the nerve to flirt back.

"How does it feel now that the entire world wants to sleep with you?" she had asked.

And the three of them, Johanna, Haymitch, and Peeta, had all shared a laugh at Katniss' expense, mortifying her. She'd been furious, but again, she couldn't touch on why, so she paraded around, angrily, under the false pretenses that she didn't like to be made fun of, because to admit to herself that Johanna had made her jealous was just too much for her to take.

Then Johanna saw her in Snow's wedding dress, and after Johanna looked at her with disdain, Katniss made the decision to tell her the truth: that Snow was making her wear it.

Johanna could be damned intimidating when she wanted to—which was most of the time—so Katniss tried not to falter or step back when Johanna approached her. "Make him pay for it," had been all she said, and it was enough to make her look at Johanna Mason just a little bit differently.

And Katniss had to admit that she was impressed with Johanna's bold choice of words during her interviews. "Fuck that, and fuck all of you who had anything to do with it." And Katniss realized that Johanna was right; they had promised that if they won the Games, they'd life out the rest of their days in riches, glory, and honor.

Yet here they were.

Again.

The Quarter Quell.

Because they were rebels, and they had made too much noise, and President Snow had to remind them all who was really in charge and silence even the most radical of them.

When Finnick allied with her it was just all the more reason to not trust either one of them. It was just more proof that these people had been friends for years, and that she and Peeta were the odd ones out.

Johanna was bossy, obnoxious, annoying even, but she was good with an axe, so that was that.

But she was also impatient and hotheaded, so Katniss took it upon herself to clean off Wiress and to get the older woman away from Johanna and her cruel words.

Tick tock. Tick tock.

Katniss didn't have the time to be smug. It would have been so terribly easy to chide Johanna and say if she had just taken the time to listen to Wiress, she could have and would have figured out that Wiress was trying to say the Arena was a clock.

But Katniss couldn't do that. Instead they waited for Beetee to come up with a plan that would change everything with the lightening tree.

Only nothing went according to plan.

Not that Katniss knew at the time that there was a bigger plan.

All she knew is that one minute they had decided on something, and the next minute it all went to shit.

And then Johanna betrayed her, nearly knocking her out, and digging harshly, violently even, into her arm.

Katniss had never hated the bitch more.

After blowing up the force field, Katniss was unconscious for God knows how long. She'd been delirious when she'd done it. She didn't even know why she was doing it. The idea had struck her out of nowhere, and it made so much sense at the time. She saw the wire, and she had her bow, so why the fuck not end it all?

Except when she came back around, after scuffling with Haymitch once she saw her mentor in the likes with Finnick and Plutarch Heavensbee, she was told about this plan, this bigger picture, this Revolution they'd been planning since forever.

Peeta was gone.

And so was Johanna.

Katniss probably could have been indifferent to it all. She'd lost Peeta, the only one she'd ever really wanted to save, except Johanna ended up being an intricate part of her life after she'd been rescued from the Capitol, even if she came back barring harsh words. There was something so raw, so real about Johanna that Katniss started to like.

And on a rainy day during training, where Johanna was shaking so badly she couldn't even put her gun together, Katniss assembled Johanna's gun for her, and they became something like friends, and then roommates.

Their friendship would last for the rest of their lives.

Katniss would have never thought Johanna would come to 12, forcing a pregnant Katniss out of bed, and taking her into her woods. They walked for what felt like hours, which proved to Katniss how tired she truly was from carrying this baby.

Johanna doesn't know where she's going, but Katniss knows that she bought her out here to talk. Katniss takes lead and shares the lake with Johanna, sitting down near the edge and letting her feet drop into the cool water.

"So apparently you're having a hard time with this pregnancy, Mockingjay," she said to Katniss.

Katniss thought about not saying anything, but this is Johanna. Her friend, as crazy as she and that is. "I'm scared," she finally admits.

"You're insane, Katniss," scolded Johanna. "You've survived two Hunger Games and you're the fucking Mockingjay. You killed two presidents and you're the face of the rebellion. Your husband, this baby's father, also survived two Hunger Games, plus his love for you undid all the torture and hijacking that the Capitol did to him. As if that weren't enough, this baby's God-father is Haymitch Abernathy, victor of the 50th Hunger Games, which was a Quarter Quell, and he was the brains behind the Revolution. And that's just the beginning. The baby also had a God-mother everybody thought was a Capitol puppet with her damn pink hair until she was tortured but never once gave you, or Haymitch, up. Our current President, President Paylor, signed a law that said that no cameras are allowed in 12 for at least the next several years to ensure your child has a normal, healthy life….. Nothing is gonna happen to this kid. Nothing can happen to this kid. And if anything, God forbid, does, can you imagine what'll happen? Think about how brilliant Haymitch was as a drunk. He's ten times that man sober, and he's been sober for fifteen years. Peeta? Peeta may fight flashbacks every now and then, but he's anything but weak. And you? Do you really think you would just sit idle if something happened? This country would never survive the wrath you guys would bestow upon the Districts if anything ever happened. You have nothing to be afraid of. If anything, we should all be afraid of you."

Now as Katniss watched Johanna laughing with Willow, she knew her friend was right. Their children were safe. Things had changed since the Revolution. Hell they were here, at Finn's wedding, in District 4, and it had been easy to get here. She was allowed to travel again, but even if she hadn't the people of Panem were allowed to travel to different Districts now.

She'd never known Johanna could ever let anybody in, but she had. Not just Katniss and Peeta, but Gale, and their three children; Katniss' niece and two nephews. She had indeed seriously misjudged Johanna Mason, and she was happy that first impressions weren't always correct impressions.