A/N:

ArianaandXaia : :D here's some good news for you : I've finished my midterms but no, I can't update as frequently as I used to. Classes are taking a lot of my time. But I'll try during winter break.
DarthBane123 : Rick Riordan spelled both Gaea and Gaia. Either way, my spellcheck didn't go nuts.
NinjaSquirrel1912 : believe me when I say I can't wait too…:)
Superblade : there's a teeny problem : I DON'T KNOW WHICH ONE I SHOULD SHIP RIGHT NOW. Lol..
legomanrules : I am trying to update faster. Don't worry.
SpectreFoxtrot: really? I enjoyed writing about them too…
RAINBOW dewdrops : will do!
Ronnie07: well…thanks for the suggestion and offer but a Beta's job is mainly to proofread and if I don't actually update, there won't be anything to proofread.
Watashi No Sukinahito : Yes…I made the final drafts for the Mockingjay fanfic. Friendly reminder that those are the final chapters of the book and if you would read Mockingjay again, you will cry. :) I haven't started on the first few chapters yet.

Pinned not: I have a really unhealthy thing with stalking (don't worry. I do it out of curiousity.) So I found someone who had advertised my writings on his profile as his personal favourites. You know who you are. So..thanks. A thousand thanks. This chapter is dedicated to you.

Disclaimer: I think I may have ADHD. I have a short attention span. So yeah…obviously I am not the original author. :P

Katniss' POV

Once the implications of what I had seen on Mayor Undersee's television hit me, I made for the door and start down the hall. Just in time, too, because the mayor comes up the steps moments later. I give him a wave.

" Looking for Madge?" he asks in a friendly tone.

" Yep. I want to show her my dress," I reply in the same friendly tone he used.

" Well, you know where to find her." Just then, another round of beeping came from his study. His face turns grave. " Excuse me," he says. He goes into his study and shut the door tightly.

I wait in the hall until I had myself under control. Also to remind myself to act natural. Then I find Madge in her room, sitting at her dressing table, brushing out her wavy blonde hair in front of the mirror. She sees my reflection in her mirror and smiles. " Look at you! Like you came right off the streets of the Capitol!"

I step in closer. My fingers touch the mockingjay pin. " Even my pin now. Mockingjays now are all the rage in the Capitol, thanks to you. Are you sure you don't want it back?"

" Don't be silly. It was a gift," Madge says. She tied her hair back in a festive gold ribbon.

" Where did you get it anyway?" I ask her.

" It was my aunt's," she said. " But I think it's been in the family for a long time."

" It's a funny choice, a mockingjay," I say. " I mean, because of what happened in the rebellion. With the jabber-jays backfiring on the Capitol and all."

The jabberjays were mutations, genetically enhanced male birds created by the Capitol as weapons to spy on rebels in the districts. They could remember and repeat long passages of human speech, so they were sent into rebel areas to capture our words and return them to the Capitol. The rebels caught on and turned them against the Capitol by sending them home loaded with lies. When this was discovered, the jabberjays were left to die. In a few years, they became instinct in the wild but not before they mated with female mockingbirds, creating an entirely new species.

" But mockingjays were never weapons," Madge says. " They're just songbirds, right?"

Wrong, I thought. " Yeah…I guess so," I say. But it's not true, really. I mean, mockingbirds are just songbirds. But mockingjay? They are creatures that the Capitol did not intend to exist. They hadn't been counting on the highly-controlled jabberjays to have the brains to adapt to the wild, to pass on its genetic code, to thrive in a new form. They hadn't anticipated its will to live.

" Why are we even talking about the bird?" Madge asks, smiling. " I mean, tonight is meant to be a celebratory one! Come on. Let's go down. It's nearly time anyway."

" Good. I'm hungry," I say, to which she laughs.

" Let's eat 'til we drop," Madge suggests as we enter the dining room. Then she suddenly stops midtrack.

" What's wrong?" I ask her. She gives me a sad smile.

" I miss Percy," she says. " I mean, I bet he would have loved this," she gestures to the food. " He did have the stomach the size of a ship."

" I do not have the stomach the size of a ship!"

The both of us drop our glasses when we heard that voice.

" Did you - ?" I ask Madge, the shock still clenching at my heart.

" I did," Madge replies, her blue eyes round. " Was that really - ?"

We look around but there was no one in the dining room. Except for that blue-haired guy with green eyes in a blue shirt and brown pants leaning against the window.

Wait.

" You should close your mouth, Katniss. You don't want a fly to…well..fly straight into it," the blue-haired guy says.

" Impossible," Madge whispers, her eyes glued to the guy.

" Hello, Madge. Long time no see," the guy nods to her.

" Percy?" the both of us chorused together. He smirks at us. He walks up to us and stops to stand right in front of us, his arms crossed across his chest.

" Careful now," he says in a low voice. " Wouldn't want to get caught to be still alive. Anyway," he says in his normal voice. " My name's Adrian James. It's good to be finally meeting you, Katniss."

We both didn't respond. Except to stare at him.

" I'll explain everything later," he hisses from the corner of his mouth. " Now act as if you're delighted to be acquainted to me, a man from the Capitol." Just then the doors are opened by Madge's servants and in walk my mother and Prim with a familiar yet unfamiliar blonde girl with grey eyes. "Oh, and meet my wife, Annabeth," he adds as the blonde comes up to him. " We just got married last week and we were supposed to go to District One for our honeymoon but we accidentally took the wrong train."

" That's..unfortunate," Madge finally manages to choke out. He exhales in relief, probably because we are finally recovering from our initial shock.

And just in time, too because guests start to flood the room.

I couldn't focus on the food, on the dancing (Percy/Adrian danced with me once. And it was extremely awkward), the talking. Pretty much everything. And when I look at Madge, I know that my confusion are shared with her.

Percy got some serious shit to explain after this.

As soon as the last note of the last song finishes, most of the guests groan because (if possible) they wanted the dinner to be longer. I, however, am relieved because aside from getting to beat the daylight out of Percy, my feet are getting a little bit sore from the dancing and the standing. And I think my face is going to be permanently smiling (which Effie would insist it to be an improvisation to my face).

" Katniss! Katniss!" a small girl runs up to me. " I had so much fun! And the food is just delicious!"

I smile at Posy, Gale's sister. " I'm glad you had fun. Where's Gale?" I ask her as Hazelle and Gale's brothers walk up to me.

" He's not very well at the moment," Hazelle says apologetically. " He probably contracted some flu from the people at the mines."

" Oh. Okay, then. Um…tell him I was looking for him," I say, shifting my feet in the process. Seriously, this is like the awkwardest moment I am having.

" Don't worry, Katniss," Hazelle says, patting my face. " He'll be okay soon. He just need some time to heal."

" Okay," I nod.

" Bye, Katniss!" Posy says as they walk out of the room along with the other guests. " See you!"

" Bye, Posy! Be good!" I wave at her. She smiles, her toothless grin wide and waves back to me.

" You're very good with kids," a voice says. I look back and see Percy (or Adrian? I don't care) leaning against one of the tables at the side of the room. " Have you ever thought about starting your own famil – OOF!"

He says 'Oof'.

Because I just crushed his windpipe.

" Explain," I hiss at him.

" Can't,"he wheezes. I push against his windpipe harder.

"You're not really him are you? You're just some impostor."

" Let him go," a female's voice says. My money's on the blonde. " How is he going to explain things to you if you're crushing his windpipe?"

I stare him down for a moment longer before really letting him go. He drops onto his knees and wheezes for breath.

" Thanks, Annabeth. I think I could have managed it myself," he says drily, rubbing his throat.

" Yeah, right," the blonde – Annabeth – rolls her eyes. " Maybe after your windpipe is destroyed permanently?

Annabeth.

Annabeth.

Why does that name sounds familiar?

Annabeth.

Annabeth.

HOLY SHIT!

I step back from the both of them, almost getting drench in punch (ironically). " You guys are supposed to be dead. How is it are you standing in front of me?" SMASH! I accidentally push the punch bowl off of the table. Now the whole floor is covered in bright red punch.

As red as his blood when it oozed out of him as he died in my arms.

" Katniss? Are you okay?" Madge suddenly appears next to me. " Are you okay?"

" No. I'm not okay, Madge," I turn to her. " I think I'm going crazy. I'm seeing things. I'm seeing dead people!" I nearly scream at her.

" Shh…it's okay," Madge says, rubbing my shoulder. " It's okay. He explained everything to me."

" You've…you've talked to him?" I ask her, not taking my eyes off the two. " What did he say?"

" It's a little bit…complicated," Madge says apologetically. " You're going to have to let him explain everything to you. I can't." I actually whimper. ACTUALLY WHIMPER? Who the hell am I right now? " All you have to do now is calm down and relax. I won't leave your side. Don't worry."

" Alright then," Annabeth says. " Let's go to your bedroom then, Madge."

Madge nods and then leads us out of the dining room, stopping to apologize to her servants who are cleaning up the spilled punch before making our way to her bedroom. Mayor Undersee didn't notice us since he is too busy at the door talking with a couple of people, probably from the Capitol from the looks of their dressing.

What we didn't notice was one of the Capitol people had been standing at the doors of the dining room as we file out, keeping an eye, and eavesdropping, on us.

" This is bizarre! This is weird! It's not natural!" I say to them. " How? How is it possible for you guys to still be alive? You!" I point at the boy. " I held you when you died! I watched you die! You had a sword sticking in your heart! How – "

The boy pulls his collar of his shirt down to reveal a really ugly scar. Right over his heart.

Where the sword had penetrated.

" What?" I stammer. " Where did you get that?"

" I did die that night, Katniss," the boy say calmly. " But I am not from this time so I'm not actually dead yet." I suppose I look confused to him because he adds, " We're from the past, Katniss. Way, way, way back into the past."

I continue to stare at him.

" Please believe me because I don't have any more idea how to explain this," he pleads with me. " I'm not lying and I'm not an impostor. Please believe me."

" What's with the hair?" I ask him, letting my eyes take in his appearance. " And the lips?"

" It's food dye. We had to disguise him up so as to not give anyone a heart attack," the girl says.

" You don't say," I say drily to her. " Why did you come back then?"

His face flushes red. " My father said that there is going to be war in the future. And…and I wanted to help. I can't let you guys face war that is..um..partly my fault."

I could feel my face go red. " So you're saying that this supposed war is going to be my fault?"

" Relax, Katniss," Madge says, rubbing me on the back. " Percy is talking half of the blame of this war. He's not saying this is your fault. It's his fault too."

" Yeah…it's my fault too," he mumbles.

I continue to stare at him. And then I surprised everyone by hugging him tightly.

" It's good to have you back, Seaweed Brain."

A/N: It's not one of my best but I tried. I did. I'm sorry if I disappointed you guys.