(18)
The hovercraft lands in District 13 before I know it. Peeta faithfully remains at my side as they take us off the ship. We all block the exit and are talking very loudly, all about different things. The hallway is very congested. Jezarra takes Revelyn, saying that she will bring her to my father's house. Apparently, District 13 has planned a celebration for our safe return. I try not to concentrate on the fact that we lost Beetee in the process and that the mission only rescued seven people.
Haymitch's loud voice fills the hall we are all waiting in. "Listen up!" he yells and everyone dutifully closes their mouths. "Get in a single file line. We are going to be marching down the square and there will be a procession for our bravery, blah, blah, blah. Remember you are the chief rebels and the people outside these doors are depending on you. So, please, just retain some sort of composure," I can tell by the way he is talking that he is frustrated. I don't know why, though.
We form the line and Haymitch comes over to me, tapping on my shoulder. "How are you holding up? Do you think you can stand for awhile?"
Under normal circumstances, I would have been fine standing for any amount of time, but since I just gave birth two days ago, I don't know if I can handle it.
Peeta answers before I have a chance to say anything, "Maybe we should get her a chair or something."
"Or she could just go back to rest," Haymitch gives me a weird glance.
I get the feeling that something is going on that I don't know about. I'm very accustomed to this feeling by now, but it is still very awkward when I get it.
"I'll be fine," I say, not understanding why Haymitch is making a mountain out of a molehill.
"Ok," says Haymitch, giving me that weird glance again before turning to stalk off down the hallway.
"What was that about?" I ask Peeta.
"Nothing. Absolutely nothing," is his response. "That's the problem with us now," he adds.
"What do you mean?"
"Everyone is really uptight about this whole war that it seems like everything is a big deal. Of course all of District 13 wants you to be at the celebration, but you might not be able to participate. I know you must be really tired. I mean, look at you. Look at your eyes," says Peeta.
I pause to think about this. Yes, I am tired. Yes, I am in pain. But if the district wants to see me, it wouldn't be a good idea to disappoint. I conclude this and say, "Really, Peeta, I'm fine."
He raises his eyebrows, "Uh, I don't think so."
I look at him, really look at him, for the first time since he was rescued. His blond hair is all messed up with a strand covering part of his right eye. His brows are furrowed, not understanding what I've said. His blue eyes are darker now. Peeta looks genuinely concerned about me.
"Peeta," I say, taking his hand. His hands are soft. They have no calluses like Gale's hands. These hands have done everything from frosting cakes to threatening to kill with a knife. Slowly, I bring his hand up to my lips, never breaking his gaze. I kiss it and say, "I'll be fine."
His face changes expression. The look of concern is wiped off his face and is immediately replaced by the smile that melts my heart. "Katniss," Peeta mumbles, taking my other hand. "I don't know what to say," he stares into my eyes.
"Then don't say anything," I let go of his hand and brush away the hair from his eye.
He puts his free hand on my face and pulls me closer to him.
"Let's go!" I hear Haymitch's voice again and groan. Yet another moment between Peeta and me has been interrupted.
Peeta laughs off his bit of irritation towards Haymitch. He releases me and we fall back into our single file line.
The doors to District 13 open and everyone files out. Just as instructed, we begin to march down the square in our line with Haymitch leading. Peeta walks behind me and Johanna is in front.
Mayor Bauer has a microphone and stands on a platform in the center of the square. "My dear rebels and people of District 13, we are victorious!" This really gets the crowd going. I don't think I've ever heard such uproar. I feel Peeta grab my hand again. He gives it a reassuring squeeze. We are victorious. Yes, in a way. The Games were shut down and some of the tributes were rescued, but still, so many innocent people have died for no reason. We are not yet victorious in the way I wish we were.
"I propose we have a celebration!" the Mayor continues once the excitement has died down. This only makes it start again. "But first," he manages to speak over the shouts, "let us take some time to honor the tributes present with us today and the tributes who have passed."
The crowd manages to return to silence, probably only out of sympathy for those who have died.
"First, the tributes that have been lost: Darius McFinley," he says.
I bow my head.
"Enobaria Werston. Flavius Porter. Jamie Mellark."
At the mention of Jamie, a small tear forms in my eye. I hold on tightly to Peeta's hand and turn slightly to look at him. Yes, he is upset, but he also seems to have accepted Jamie's death. I know that if Prim died, there would be no way I could recover so quickly.
"Lisa Everdeen."
Ah, yes, my mother. Maybe I have more of a hard-shell then I perceived. I don't seem moved by my mother's death. Peeta returns my tight hand-hold as her name is called.
"Mayla Padgett."
I admired Mayla, probably because she was just like Rue. She was like her in every way, not just by the way she looked, but also by her attitude. Kind, sweet, caring. But now, she is nothing more than dead. Her death was something that didn't need to happen. There was no reason Morrison had to kill her. If Mayla had lived, maybe she could have restored hope to her four younger siblings. When Rue died, she became the oldest of the children and I'm certain she must have been a role model to them. Now, their family takes another loss just because of the idiocy of Morrison Mellark.
"Merrow Garthwaite. Octavia Jones. Portia Fennels. Regulus Undersee."
Madge! As Mayor Undersee's name is called, I lift my head up to try and find her in the crowd. There is no sign of her anywhere I can see. I listen for a soft sob, but hear nothing except the winter wind. Would Madge cry because of his death? That's hard for me to determine. But just thinking about her gets me excited for the celebration, even though we're supposed to be mourning right now. I can't wait to see her again.
"Rory Hawthorne."
Oh, Gale. I was so wrapped up in my own joy that I forgot about Gale's loss. I haven't really seen him much since the baby was born. I'm sure he's taken a few glances at me. I must disgust him, being happy even though Gale's two brothers have been killed. And pathetically, too. I know I wouldn't want to say my brothers were killed by a rain of explosive flowers.
"Samuel Mellark."
And then there's another loss from Peeta. I'm affected by this death as well. Mr. Mellark would have been my father-in-law. I look over to Peeta and he doesn't look upset at all. In fact, he looks hopeful. I'm not sure what he could possibly be hoping for, but the look is there.
"Sarah Billow. Tolliver Poystorm. Venia Azlone. Vick Hawthorne. Yula Fischer."
After the last name is called, Mayor Bauer calls for seventeen seconds of silence, one second to honor each tribute. When the silence is over, the crowd is once again joyous.
"Now, let us honor the tributes who have returned to us from the arena! Annie Cresta."
Annie lets go of one of Finnick's hands and waves it back and forth in the air. At first the crowd is hesitant to cheer for her, but soon it is rip-roaring loud.
"Cinna Vearich."
Cinna raises his hand and quickly puts it back down to his side. I think it's funny how over the past two years I never knew Cinna's last name. I look over to him and his eyes are still watery. I wonder what kind of a relationship he had with Portia.
"Effie Trinket."
Effie loves the attention she's given. I rarely see her so happy. She jumps up and down, with a big, fat smile on her face. I think the joy gets to her because she turns to Cinna, who is standing next to her, and plants a kiss on his cheek. He looks slightly alarmed and his face turns a light shade of pink. I stifle a laugh.
"Johanna Mason."
Morrison picks up Johanna and lifts her higher into the air. She smiles, which is a big thing for her, and as Mayor Bauer announces Morrison, he puts her down on the ground and she wraps her arms around his sides, causing him to grin.
"Peeta Mellark."
The crowd goes wild screaming out chants for Peeta and me. I start to feel a little woozy with all the people calling my name.
"Prim Everdeen."
Prim, who is standing behind Peeta in the line, politely smiles.
"Also, let's honor our rescuers: Haymitch Abernathy, Mason Everdeen, Gale Hawthorne and Finnick Odair. Congratulations on your success! Credits also go to Plutarch Heavensbee, Beetee Plumore, and Vedran Davis. Now, let's celebrate!" Mayor Bauer finishes his speech and the crowd begins to move to the town hall.
Peeta and I begin to follow when I hear, "Gale! Katniss!" I turn around and Madge is running towards me. Her hair is back to its regular shade of blonde. I see Gale weave in and out of people to get to Madge. She reaches me first and gives me a big hug. "Oh my goodness! When I woke up and you weren't there, I almost had a heart attack! Gosh, Katniss, were you trying to kill me?" she babbles. She smells of a very expensive perfume. It reminds me of some sort of flower.
"I missed you too, Madge," I say, letting her go.
"And Peeta!" she says, going over to Peeta next, "How've you been?" she gives him a small hug too.
"Excellent. Nice to see you, Madge," he smiles.
Then Gale reaches her and taps her shoulder. She releases Peeta and turns around to face Gale. For a moment, both of them are quiet. Then she wraps her arms around him and whispers something in his ear.
He smiles and kisses her. This time, he kisses her the same way he kissed me in the forest. There is love. I grab Peeta's hand and pull him away from Gale and Madge.
"I'm sorry you had to witness that," he says, putting his arm around my shoulder.
"Gale and Madge are married," I tell him.
"What?" he takes his arm away from me and stops walking, turning to face me.
I repeat, "Gale and Madge are…"
"I heard you," Peeta cuts me off, "but… what?"
"I don't know. They just are." What a miserable explanation by me.
"Ok…" he says, resuming our walk. "Do you really want to go to this celebration?" Peeta asks me.
We have to go. I don't see there is a choice. In response I just shrug.
"I say we forget about it. Go spend some time together," he says.
"You want to just… go?" I ask.
"Yeah. Why not?"
"Well," I begin, but then I look at him.
"One night. Just you and me. We won't have many," says Peeta.
I consider this for a minute. "We could get in trouble," I say.
"Nah, you could say you were tired or something and you couldn't participate. Come on, let's just go."
"Alright," I give in. "One night for just you and me."
He grabs my hand and we go to my father's house. Somehow, we manage to forget the troubles that tomorrow brings us.
END OF PART TWO