"You're kidding me…" I mean… "This is a joke, right? It has to be a joke. Real or not real?"

Whatever answer Marcus was expecting from us, it's probably not this considering how slightly flustered he looks. "Not real." By now, he's familiar with that little quirk of mine and knows how to respond appropriately. "Why would it be a joke?"

"Do you seriously expect us to believe that a bunch of quarries are just going to give us their entire product free of charge?" My last three syllables are punctuated by my finger prodding that document.

"Well of course not," he scoffs. That's what I thou—"They are merely giving you access to whatever is needed to rebuild the place to however you wish it to be. We have full confidence that you're not going to build the entire Capitol here."

"That's a pretty big show of confidence." It seems Thom's reading my mind about the whole thing. "You're pretty much saying that we can rebuild our town square as grand as yours, if on a smaller scale."

"Actually, we expect you do so; it means that you'd be using our resources to the fullest potential," the former Peacekeeper notes. "Anyways… after you finish drafting a plan for a building or some other improvement, it can just send the plan to the main office, and they'll contact the appropriate quarry to send the material over."

"No. We can't accept this." Now Katniss' response is one that I'm not exactly surprised about.

Of course, it just makes a scowl appear on Marcus' face. "Why not?"

"It's too much," she says while sliding the document back to him. "There has to be some sort of price. And before you say it's because you bombed Twelve, that debt had already been paid in blood at the Nut and sweat from your people coming here to clean up the district."

"And your people came to help remove the bodies from the Aedes Bellonae," he counters as the papers go sliding back to us.

I guess that's true. After Thom visited Two, he came back visibly shaken from the ordeal. And right after that, he made an extremely firm suggestion for the people of Twelve to lend a hand. With most of the physical work done by the people of Two, it's not like there would have been a dent in the effort here. So things were done in rotations, with one half going and the other half staying to manage things on the home front until a couple days later when things are flipped around.

The only people who didn't participate were those unable to go — the ones that'd be unwilling had already left due to Thom's "collusion with the enemy" — and even they usually contributed in their own way; turns out that Sae's granddaughter is really good at making simple dolls from discarded fabric, and a box of them would go along with a box of my cookies with the Two-bound shift. In general, for the first few times those shifts came back, it was clear how utterly drained everyone was from the experience, even though many of them have been exposed to war as well as the remains of this district. At her insistence that she'd be fine for those couple of days of my absence, even I actually went for one shift along with Haymitch; it… probably wasn't the smartest idea on my part.

Still even with that point, Katniss is still undeterred, and those sheets go back to Marcus. "And how many people was that? Twenty? Thirty? "

"It was still pretty much your entire district," he murmurs; his voice accompanied by the sound of paper sliding against wood.

"Except for me. I didn't even help out at the Nut." Slide… "And have you forgotten that I brought the war to District Two?"

"It's not like people don't know about the restrictions placed on you," the former Peacekeeper notes. "And yes, you may have been the symbol of the war that ravaged our district. But what matters is that, at the square, you showed us for who you really are: someone who was willing to extend as much compassion as she was willing to fight with honor. Even just your mere presence while people worked here did wonders for morale. So don't think that you've done nothing for us."

Despite his reasoning, Marcus' words are still countered with Kantiss'… and vice versa. All the while that little stack of papers keeps going back and forth… back and forth…

Finally, with the document right in the middle of them, the former Peacekeeper throws his hands up and barks, "It was their choice to do it! It's their gift! Are you going to refuse someone's gift?"

And finally, Katniss seems to deflate with that simple question, which is understandable. I mean, how do you refuse someone's gift without coming across as utterly ungrateful and close-minded? "I just don't want to pile up a debt," she murmurs. Ah… and that's what it comes down to.

"Neither do I," Thom adds. "I'm grateful for the help you brought over, because it's clear we could have never gotten things done with the help we had before you showed up. But this… you have to understand that it comes off as charity, which makes us feel like we're shackled with a debt that we don't know how to repay, if it's even possible. I'm not sure how to explain."

I'm not sure Thom needs to. Because those words seem to sap the energy out of Marcus as well, and something in his eyes tells me that he completely understands what they mean; I guess complexion of the people isn't the only thing Two and Twelve can have in common.

"Would you at least be getting compensated for this in any way?" I ask, hoping to figure out some common accord that can be reached. In all honestly, despite the surprise and almost excessive nature of the offer, I'm pretty open to these supplies reaching us considering that we really don't have any rebuilding material in stock. While there're no space issues now, if we actually want this district to be active and no longer be a burden to the others, we're going to have to actually expand past the Victors' Village.

"President Paylor found out about our plan and offered to cover the cost of what the quarries would normally sell, but that sort of goes against the whole point of donation. Yet despite our objections, she insisted. So we allowed it with one condition: that the money would be directed towards our… memorial fund…" As Marcus is explaining, I can see some sort of realization begin dawn in the former Peacekeeper's eyes, and right on the heels of that realization a rare grin graces his face. "Which is exactly why you should accept."

"Because each time we ask for something, your fund gets money from the government," I finish. I'll admit… that's possibly one way to get around the issue of debt. "What do you think, guys? By letting them help us, we're helping them. Win-win."

Of course, while Thom looks thoughtful about that, some people are harder to convince than others; that much is obvious considering how Katniss is chewing her lip as her eyes flit back and forth between me, an increasingly anxious-looking Marcus, and that document that has been such a source of contention lately. I don't know how much time passes while she's in that state, but we don't rush her

After that indeterminate period, though, she finally emits a sigh… before getting up and running out of the living room.

In her wake, a palatable silence falls in the space; a silence which is finally broken by Marcus: "I can't say I was expecting that response," he mutters with a completely crestfallen expression. Honestly, I'm more than a bit disappointed as well. I mean, I know Kantiss is a stickler about debt, but seriously…

However, before I can make any sort of response, she comes running back; except this time, she has a pen in one hand and a sheet of parchment — it occurs to me that it's the same parchment used for our book — in the other. Almost immediately upon taking a seat, Katniss begins writing in that sharp but clean script of hers. "Honestly, your idea sounds good, and I like that'd we'd be helping you that way. But it still feels like we aren't giving back enough." Within a few seconds, she finishes whatever she's writing, adds a signature, and slides that paper to me the same time that she finally drags the documents from Two over to her. "Which is why I'm offering this," she states while pointing to the simple statement:

"As a show of gratitude for all the help given, District Twelve pledges to offer support in any way it can should District Two call for assistance." — Katniss Everdeen

I don't even have to think about it to add my signature underneath Katniss' before handing it Thom; it takes him even less time to add his own signature before passing that sheet to Marcus.

Barely a couple seconds of scanning the sentence passes for the former Peacekeeper's eyes to go wide. "This… also wasn't what I was expecting."

"It may not be much," Katniss says with a small shrug, "but it's as much as we can give."

"But… are you sure others will go along with it? You saw how hesitant some from Two were in the beginning."

"As of now," Thom counters, "everybody here is grateful for Two's help. And if anybody who moves here later complains about these terms, we'll simply ask them what they did to help get this district cleaned up. Fair enough?"

"I…" After a couple seconds of trying to choke out an answer, Marcus simply settles for a jerky nod and quietly murmurs, "Fair enough. Thank you."

As he offers that thanks, the former Peacekeeper rises with his hand extended. So I decide to be the one to take it… before jerking him around the table to envelop him in a hug and, "Thank you."

After Katniss and Thom follow suit, we settle back down for idle chitchat over snacks. Haymitch actually drops by and we fill him in on the details, to which he pretty much reacts like I had; with complete surprise that's followed by quick acceptance and a signature on the paper. The sun is just starting to hit the treetops before Marcus and Thom take their leave; the latter is planning on going door to door with both District Two's proposal and Katniss' statement to get everyone to sign the latter.

As we see them out the door, my former mentor decides to have the final word: "Hey Limpy!"

By now, the former Peacekeeper is used to the nickname — granted, he's still not that much of a fan of the old victor — and he simply stops and turns in midstride to issue a polite, "Yes, Mr. Abernathy?"

Haymitch raises his glass to the younger man and states in the soberest manner I've heard him in a while, "Olympia would be proud."

"As would Darius," Katniss adds.

The only response Marcus can give is to become frozen where he is for who-knows-how-long. Finally he breaks that moment by giving us another jerky nod — this time, it's laden with a disproportionate amount of blinks — before wishing us a good evening as they go on their way. Once he downs his glass, Haymitch mutters something about wanting to check on us and makes his departure as well; I really need to get him something to keep him busy with something other than booze.

Which just leaves us two.

Not knowing what to say to each other, we simply focus on picking up the dishes and cleaning them. However, as I place the last teacup on the drying rack, an important fact finally hits me: we can actually rebuild District Twelve.

"Hasn't that been what we were doing already?" Katniss voice makes me turn to see me scowling at me in a perplexed manner.

I hadn't realized I was thinking out loud but I might as well continue on: "Well yeah, but what have we been doing so far? Cleaning up the place so it doesn't become an environmental hazard; making sure the dead are buried; in general, doing things to just make the place livable. But with this offer… we'll not just be able to restore Twelve as our home, we could actually rebuild it into a home to be proud of."

My explanation must not be that convincing, because her scowl deepens. "How? There are less than fifty of us that live here. Without a job, it's not like more will come back, and without people, it's not like anybody will invest in this place."

Despite the cynical counter, I don't let it dampen my spirits. "People will return; I'm sure of it. Never underestimate the attachment we have to home, no matter what the state it's in. And as for jobs, I know that Paylor's figuring something out for us that won't involve coal dust all over the place."

Katniss' scowl actually begins to soften a bit, which must mean that I'm on the right track. "I'm not sure…"

I don't know why, but I actually take her hands in mine — to my surprise, she doesn't draw away — before looking straight into her eyes, "You don't have to be sure; just trust me on this. Can you do that?"

There must be a whole bunch of misgivings within Katniss, and it's with good reason. I mean, considering all that has happened so far, why shouldn't she, or any of us for that matter, be suspicious about what the future will bring? Yet, in spite of all that — in spite of every voice of reason and logic that tells her that this is probably an idiotic idea — she doesn't hesitate to say, "Yes."

It may be irrational, but for whatever reason, that simple monosyllabic response causes a surge of giddy happiness to swell inside of me. And in that state of being overcome by said surge, I end up conveying my gratitude to Katniss. Except that it's not in a verbal manner but an unthinking one that's probably the epitome of stupidity:

I kiss her on the lips.