Finnick takes careful steps toward us, leaning heavily on a metal cane, just like the one Peeta used. He must have lost one of his legs. As he approaches us the sun dances off his patchwork skin. He's a fire mutt. Just like me…Just like Peeta. I close my eyes and swallow hard. It wasn't a bomb dropped by an unfeeling soldier onto innocent children. The bomb that did this to him was thrown down into that sewer by me. I did this to him.
I open my eyes and see more people leaving the train as Finnick comes closer. An older man, someone who I assume is his doctor. And then someone who I don't expect; a slender woman with blonde hair and haunted blue eyes. My mother, who told me she was in District Two. Finnick reaches us confused. A half knotted rope hangs out of his pocket. Annie and Finnick stare at each other for a long time, neither of them speaking. Finally, Finnick wraps an arm around her and gives her a small kiss. He looks down at the baby in her arms and we see the first spark of life in his eyes. Finnick touches the baby's head tenderly and kisses him.
"I named him Finnick." Annie says in barely a whisper.
"Thank you." Finnick's eyes drift across our group. Flickers of resignation come and go and then his eyes meet mine. "Katniss."
My foot shifts backward and I'm ready to run. Finnick walks over to me and my whole body tenses, but he just hugs me. "Thank you."
"For what?" I ask. Maybe he's not as sane as I thought.
"For remembering who the real enemy was."
My brain reels and he walks back to Annie. The crowd presses in on them now, all of them wanting to thank him, shake his hand, or welcome him home. He seems to remember some of them, others you can tell he thinks he's never met. I look back at my mother and see she's still hanging back. I give Peeta's hand a quick squeeze and pull him over to her.
I wrap my arms around my mother, not just as a hello, but to comfort her too. "What are you doing here?"
"I was part of Finnick's recovery team. They wanted a face he was familiar with."
"I thought you were in District Two." I take Peeta's hand again and hold it firmly in mine. Holding onto him is like holding onto reality. It steadies me when my thoughts start to jumble.
"That's what I was supposed to tell you. Finnick's recovery was very secret for his own protection."
I nod and look back at Finnick. What seems to be every person in the district is surrounding him, Annie, and their baby. They're telling him everything that's happened and everything they've rebuilt. The rest of the welcoming committee is hanging back awkwardly. They probably would have done just as fine leaving us all at home. I turn back to my mother and she's looking at mine and Peeta's intertwined hands.
"Are you two really together now?"
I blush and look at the ground, letting Peeta work his magic with words.
"Yeah, it just sort of happened. We spend almost all of our time together. And with no pressure of the whole nation watching us, I think we both had a chance to sort our feelings out."
My mother smiles and I'm a bit relieved. I was half worried she'd still say I was too young for a boyfriend. And then I smile, because now I know what Peeta is to me. We are more than just friends. I'm his and he's mine.
I look at the crowd again and I find Gale's eyes trained on me. They're not full of apologies, or wanting to be friends. They're burning with hatred. Feeling very uncomfortable now I turn back and inch closer to Peeta. Not in fear for myself, but for him. Gale's hatred runs deep and now that the war is out of the way he's free to fight his own.
Author's Notes: Thank you for reading! I'm very sorry this chapter is so short. I promised I would get this chapter out by today, so I had to compromise a little. Chapter nine and more about what's going to happen with Gale, Katniss, and Peeta, will be out early next week (I can't write over the weekend).