A/N: I'm sorry for such a late update. I've really been intending to post for awhile, but it has never been very convenient to work on the story
(20)
When I reach my father's house to check on Revelyn, I find the door is locked. Nervously, I bang on it and after a few seconds, Leanore comes to meet me. "Where is she?" I say frantically, not realizing how urgent it is that I know exactly where my baby is.
"Shh…" Leanore puts a finger to her lips. "She asleep! Don't be too loud or you'll wake her."
"Sorry," I mumble. "Should I come back later?"
"Well, I guess. She hasn't cried since you left so I think she's fine. Maybe in twenty minutes," says Leanore.
"Ok," I say. "Thank you," I get out just before she closes the door.
She pauses, holding the door slightly ajar and faces away from me. She mumbles, "You're welcome," then shuts the door tightly. I hear the lock click.
"Revelyn's fine," I announce to Peeta who is waiting for me just out of earshot from Leanore.
"Great," he says. "Now let's get looking."
It isn't difficult to find people to ask, the problem is finding the right people to ask. We walk by a group of young teenagers and ask them if they've seen either Johanna or Morrison. Instead of answering our question, they begin to ask their own.
"What's it like in the arena?" says one.
"Are Cinna's clothes comfortable?" another bursts out.
"Do you like being the symbol of rebellion?"
Peeta manages to usher us out of there before the kids surround us.
It takes some time, but we eventually find a middle-aged woman who seems to recall spotting Johanna. "The last I saw of her, she was sitting over there, by that tree," she says with a slight Capitol accent.
"When did you last see her?" Peeta asks, clearly thinking farther than me.
"Uh… I'd say about maybe ten minutes ago," she says, furrowing her brow.
"Oh, so it hasn't been too long. Thank you so much!" Peeta says.
"You're quite welcome," she says.
"Katniss," says Peeta, turning to me, "you go back to check on Revelyn. I'll go look for Johanna."
"You think the tree…" I look to make sure the woman is gone, "… is an entrance to underground?"
"It has to be. Remember your father said they are everywhere. Maybe Jo figured it out," he says with a smile.
"Jo?" I feel my lips curve up to smile in the same fashion as him.
"Yeah." He lets out a laugh and says, "Morrison has taken a liking to calling her that lately."
I laugh along. "And does she like it?"
Peeta chuckles for a few seconds before saying, "No! She absolutely hates it! That's why he calls her Jo. I think he likes getting on her nerves."
"Why?" I ask. "It seemed to me that Morrison really likes Johanna."
"Well, yeah," Peeta says, "but he has a very weird way of showing it."
"I'm glad you aren't like that," I say giving him my best smile.
"I think he likes bothering her because it's a change of pace for him. Usually Jamie would…" he trails off. Peeta looks at me for a few seconds before he says, "Well, what are you waiting for? Go back to the house! I'll see you soon."
"Ok," I say as I turn to make my way back. I take one step and stop. All of sudden, I become aware of my life and my situation. I am in District 13, going to my father's house to go check on my baby. Peeta, the man who I love more than any other, is going to find Johanna, who was last seen by an entrance to this underground district. We are preparing for war against the Capitol. One year ago, none of this would have made sense. I turn around and see Peeta is touching the tree in different spots in the same manner my father did. I call out to him, "Our lives are crazy, Peeta!"
I hear his laugh and it calms me down a bit. I think of where I was a year ago. I was in District 12, living in Victor's Village, going from day to day trying to figure out a way to fix my problems. I was having conflicting emotions for Gale. I was training for the Quell with Haymitch and keeping a safe distance away from Peeta until that fateful night when everything changed. My reality of last year seems like a dream in comparison to what is going on in my life now.
"I hope they have cakes at our victory party!" he yells to me.
I roll my eyes and call back, "What in the world are you talking about?"
"Well, when we win this war, I hope there are cakes at the victory party, so I can rate them!" he says back.
I turn to look at him and then run towards him with force. I tackle him and pin him down to the ground, ignoring the fact that we're in public. "Listen up, bread boy," I say. He laughs for so long with so much carelessness that I join in. Finally, I'm able to contain myself and give him a speech. "This war is not won yet. There's a lot that needs to get done and if you're going to fool around like your brother Jamie, then you can just go run away to District 14. Nobody needs a joker when lives are at stake. So don't you go talking about rating cakes, ok?"
Peeta's face turns somber at the mention of Jamie. Maybe I shouldn't have added that. We both get off the ground and he nods. Without another word, I turn to head back to the house, this time, not pausing to look back.
When I finally get home, the door is unlocked and Leanore is holding Revelyn in her arms on the couch. "Katniss, she just woke up." She gets up off the couch and hands Revelyn to me. "She's been very quiet this whole time," Leanore adds.
"Thank you," I say to her again. "Thank you for taking good care of her."
"Anytime," she replies. "So, how was the meeting?"
"Oh, it was fine," I say, sitting down.
"Good," she says, taking a seat next to me.
I touch Revelyn's head and smooth out her few black hairs. Every time I look at her, she looks more and more like Peeta. I kiss her forehead and she closes her eyes. "Time for feeding," I say to her.
Slowly, her eyes open, and the bright blue irises twinkle as I start feeding her. Leanore disappears into the kitchen and calls out to me, "Is there anything I can eat?"
"There should be something in the refrigerator. Help yourself to anything you want," I tell her. Soon enough, Revelyn is done with her feeding and I give her back to Leanore, who has made a peanut butter sandwich. "I'll be back soon," I say.
"Good luck!" she calls out to me as I close the door.
I quickly run over to the tree Peeta was inspecting. I press my hands in certain spots around the tree and it asks for voice identification.
"Uh, Katniss…" I don't know whether to say Everdeen or Mellark. What would the computer have me down as? If I say the wrong thing, will an alarm system go off? That would ruin the disguise of the underground district. The thought crosses my mind that there is a possibility the people on the surface don't know what's underground. I guess I'll never know.
Before I can say anything, the voice says, "You're clear." I jump in. After the falling sensation has passed and I land on the trampoline, I look around, searching for Johanna and Peeta.
"Johanna?" I yell. "Peeta? Morrison? Morrison!?" I repeat at the top of my lungs.
"What?" I hear a voice say from behind me. I flip around and see Morrison sitting on the ground, just behind the trampoline.
"Hey," I say, walking over to him. "Everyone has been looking for you."
"Is that so?" he says, standing up off the ground.
"Yeah. Where's Johanna?" I ask, looking behind him.
"I don't know. She went on the elevator and said she'd be right back, but she never returned," he says, looking away from me.
"Do you have any idea what floor she went to?" I say, trying to get his attention.
He stares absentmindedly into the distance. "No."
"Ok… will you help me find her?" Talking to Morrison is like pulling teeth.
"If I must," he says, exhaling.
We start walking to the elevator. "Didn't you see Peeta come down this entrance?"
"No."
"Well, I'm pretty sure he came down this way. If you were sitting right there," I point to where he was, "you should have seen him."
"Well, actually, I just came here a few minutes ago. I've been wandering around," he says.
I roll my eyes at him, not bothering to point out that if you are in an unfamiliar place and you are split up with someone, you should stay in the same spot and not move around. I get in the elevator and read the level names. Eventually, after Morrison's impatience was really starting to get on my nerves, I choose Level Nine: Weapons Management. Maybe Peeta found Johanna and they are already down there. I push the button and the elevator doors close swiftly.
The elevator is amazingly fast. In just three seconds, we have gone all the way down to Level Nine. The pressure in my ears should increase, but for reason, it stays the same. Luckily, I was right. Peeta and Johanna are inspecting something in a glass box with their backs turned to us.
Morrison takes the lead and goes up right behind Johanna and wraps his arms around her. "Did you miss me?" he says.
I do the same thing to Peeta, wrapping my arms around his middle. He turns around and kisses my forehead.
I hear Johanna say, "Not really. You need to shave." I look over and see her touch his face. Morrison purses his lips and she gives him a smile.
"Katniss," Peeta says, "this is your bow."
I look for the first time into the glass box and see locked up inside is a beautiful, wood bow with carvings in the side. Clearly etched in it is my name: Katniss. Like a child, I want to touch it, test it, and feel that familiar power of it in my hands. "Can I see it?" I ask Peeta, my eyes widening as I look from him back to the bow.
He sees my face and laughs. "Katniss, calm down! You'll get to test it later."
"Ok…" I say, desperately staring at the bow, longing to pick it up.
"So, what do we have to do?" Morrison says, looking away from Johanna.
"I don't know. Haymitch said to wait here," Peeta answers.
"Good job." I turn around to see Haymitch walk into the room. "You're so good at following directions, Peeta," he says.
Peeta's smile fades and he gets serious all of a sudden. "Thank you."
Haymitch says, "Alright everybody. Just follow me." He leads us into a room that has several pedestals. Each one has a different weapon locked up inside. Haymitch reads out the names of each model as he goes down the line. I don't really listen to the names. I just look at each weapon carefully, trying to figure out what it does. Some of them look very interesting and I have a difficult time understanding what they do.
"So," says Haymitch as we reach the end of the line, "that is all of them. Shall we go back and I'll explain what their purposes are?"
"I want to see my bow," I tell him, without a second's hesitation.
"I can help you with that," a voice says from behind my back. I turn around and see my father standing in the entryway. He walks up to me and puts his hand on my shoulder. In his comforting voice, he says, "Come with me."
I follow him back into the other room and he tells me to wait by the bow. I spend another three minutes staring at it before he comes back with a weirdly shaped key. He inserts it inside the lock and the box asks for voice identification, which he gives. Gently, my father takes the bow out of its case and hands it to me.
I take it from him with care. The wood is smooth and I notice I take a few moments to stroke it back and forth. "Did you make this?" I ask my father.
He nods. "Look here," he says, taking the bow from my hands. He flips it over and points to one of the carvings. "This took me awhile. I'm no artist, as you can obviously see, but I think they came out pretty well."
I look closely at the bow and notice that all along the face of the upper and lower limbs are mockingjays. Small ones in flight, large ones perched on branches, some singing melodies and others with their beaks snapped shut. Each one is different. Somehow my father was able to portray different emotions in each bird: happiness, hopelessness, guilt. It was one of the most remarkable things I'd even seen.
"Do you like them?" he asks.
I place the bow back down in its box and throw my arms around him. "I love it," I whisper in his ear.
"Do you want to test it out?" he says.
"Yes!" I say with excitement and let go of the embrace. I pick up the bow and say, "Lead me to target practice."
My father laughs and says, "Follow me."
We walk to the glass elevator and he pushes the button for Level Ten: Weapons Testing. "Is this level dangerous?" I ask him as we arrive.
"Only a tad," he says, turning around to look at me. I see his smile and know he's joking.
We walk up to a room and he types a code into the door. The doors slide open and we walk inside. The room is completely dark except for a lit path to an illuminated platform and the light from behind us. I follow the lights up to the platform and stand there.
My father hands me some bows and I knock one on.
"Ready?" he says, stepping away from me.
"Yes," I reply, shaking slightly.
Suddenly my father is out of sight and the door, which had been the only light source, closes. I shut my eyes only to open them again when I can see light streaming through. I'm amazed to find myself in a forest. Of course, I can't really be in a forest, but it seems just like one.
"Where am I?" I ask my father, hoping he can hear me. I feel a little tense being alone.
"Underground in District 13," he says. His laugh lightens me up a bit. "Actually, this is a simulation. The woods aren't real, so don't run off and start climbing trees."
I nod, even though he can't see me, and ask, "So, do I shoot at the trees? I mean, what do I do?"
"Oh, there will be something for you to shoot in just a second. Pretend you're really out in the forest," he replies.
I engage my hunter's senses and turn around, never dropping my hold on the bow. I am ready to attack. It's incredible because I can actually hear the faint chirping of birds, the trickle of a stream, the occasional snap of a twig. I realize with horror that this is just like the Games.
That's when I hear the breathing. I flip around and see him there. Without a moment's hesitation, I point at his mouth and my arrow hits the back of his throat. "That's for convincing some people with your words that everything is fine in Panem and for manipulating me."
I knock another and step closer to him. "This is for messing with my head and for making me believe I had a chance at survival." This arrow goes through his skull.
I aim the last arrow right at his heart. "This is for breaking so many people's hearts for the lives you have so carelessly taken." I kick him. "For Jamie." I kick him again, harder. "For my mother." I start to break down. "For Mayla and for Rue." I let the arrow go.
I step away from the simulated blood. I step away from the man I hate so much, from the man I so long to kill.
"Good job, sweetheart!" my father yells out to me. "I guess the bow works well?"
"Yes," I say. My father flicks on the lights and I retrieve my arrows. President Snow's body vanishes.