I do not own The Hunger Games.

Thanks for all the reviews and subscriptions. It's really encouraging. :D

Oh, and I realized that when I type words with strikethroughs, it doesn't show. Half of Gale's letter in the last chapter was supposed to be shown with strikeouts but, oh well. :) I'm not sure I like the way this one turned out half as much as I liked the first two chapters… I hope you still like them ^^

Its pitch black, and I can't see a thing. Someone calls out my name. "Gale?" I shout into the blackness. The only thing I can hear now are the echoes of my own voice. Now a scream. "Peeta?" I push myself to my feet, spinning around, staring into the blackness. Desperately trying to save someone I can't see.

"KATNISS!"

"PRIM!" I'm running. I don't know where, but I'm not stopping. I have to find her. "PRIM! PRIM, WHERE ARE YOU?" My pace quickens when I hear her scream. I rub the tears off my face, straining my eyes, trying to find her in the darkness. I turn and see a light to my left. I run as fast as I can, through the emptiness, screaming her name all the way. I pull up short when I see my sister on fire, like a burning, human torch…

I wake up to find myself in bed, wearing a sweater that I didn't have on yesterday. When I go downstairs, I see that the letters I'd left on the floor were neatly stacked into piles on the table, next to a plate of eggs, toast, and some sort of meat. Greasy Sae is sitting in one of the chairs, knitting a ball of blue yarn and quietly humming to herself. She smiles when she sees me.

"Well, would you look at that. She's up!" She laughs. "It's noon on a spring day. You ought to get out. Enjoy it. Go hunting!"

I stare at her.

"There's a bow down the hall, if you ever decide to give it a go." She's still smiling. As I eat my food, she asks me questions about Peeta, obviously not expecting me to answer any of them. She talks about the different meats that are being imported over, about Haymitch's house smelling as bad as ever, about the changes being made in society, before she gets tired of talking and excuses herself.

I suddenly remember the letter that I was trying to write to Gale. I look around for the paper, then realize that Greasy Sae must have thrown it away, seeing as it was a crumpled sheet with nothing on it. I decide not to write to him.

I look down at the rest of the letters. It seems I've got a lot of reading to do. I study the names of the different senders. Mom, Peeta, Annie…

I rule out Annie, because I can't handle hearing about her child, or soon to be child. I can't read her letter knowing that as devastated as I am at Finnick's death, she must be broken beyond the point of repair.

Hesitantly, I grab one of my mother's, start to open it, and then put it back. I love my mother. I miss her so much. I can't do it.

That leaves Peeta. I can't help but feel a little strange as I open his first letter, knowing that he's next door. His letter is short. Shorter than Gale's first letter. He asks about me, about Twelve, then reassures me that everything is well with him in the New Capitol and wishes that it's the same with me. His next one wasn't much different, he only told me a little bit about Dr. Aurelius. Occasionally he would mention something about the food, how it hasn't gotten any worse at all, and how he thinks of me every time they serve lamb stew with dried plums. I wonder how he managed to send so many letters when there was almost no need to write one at all. He wrote things that people wouldn't ordinarily tell others. Small things. Thoughts. Every once in a while he'd say something that sounds almost romantic, then he'd start talking about something else like it's no big deal. In one, he wrote:

It's funny, Katniss. I was on the roof last night. The same one where we spent an entire day together. I was looking up at the moon, and I remembered being in the arena, wondering if the moon was another prop made by the Gamemakers, or if it was the same one that my family was looking at back home. And when I was on the roof, I couldn't help but wonder if you were looking at it at the same time. It's funny how excited one can get over such a small thing. Speaking of small things, guess what they served for breakfast today?

I cast a glance towards the door, half expecting Peeta to walk in with a loaf of fresh bread, jabbering about something else he'd noticed recently. I almost wish he would.

I've missed Peeta. So much more than I've let myself think. For months, I've been wondering about Gale, whether he's found another pair of lips to kiss, whether he still goes hunting, or whether he even needs to anymore. I've thought about both Gale and Peeta, of course, but I've undermined just how much I missed Peeta.

I suppose I was being selfish. I knew that Peeta wouldn't stop loving me. He was only in the New Capitol for therapy, after all. I don't think it was his choice to stay there. I knew for a fact that the boy with the bread would come back to me.

But with Gale… I didn't know anything for sure. I still don't. All I know is that he's in District 2 with some wonderful job. I don't know if he's found someone else. I don't know if he was writing to me because he missed me as a best friend, or if he was still in love with me. I didn't know anything for sure.

I shudder and shake off all thoughts of Gale. No. Not now. Now, I am reading Peeta's letters. Gale… Gale's okay.

I spend the rest of the afternoon reading Peeta's letters. His last one was sent only half a week ago, and it was by far the happiest.

Katniss, I'm coming home! Dr. Aurelius is finally letting me go. I'm going to see you this week, Katniss. I'll finally get to see you again. I'm going to see Haymitch, too. Wow. I never thought I'd be happy to see him.

I'm finally getting out of here. The food is pretty great, but I don't even really care anymore. I'm coming home to you, and that's all that matters.

Katniss, there's a reason you're not replying any of my letters. Maybe it's because of Gale, maybe it's because of me, or maybe you haven't even read them. But it doesn't matter, because I'll be seeing you soon. I've missed you more than words could ever express. This is the most excited I've been in months.

I'm finally coming back home, Katniss.

Peeta

A wave of guilt washes over me. He was so excited to see me again. And when he finally does, I'm on the ground crying, after going months without a shower. When we do sit down to talk, I walk out on him. I tip my head back and groan. When am I going to stop hurting him?

Before I know it, I'm knocking on his door, still clutching his letter in my hand. When he opens it, his eyes are filled with concern.

"Katniss? Is everything okay? What are you doing here?" He ushers me into the living room and sits down across from me, looking at me expectantly.

Finally, I manage, "I read your letters."

"What?" He looks down at the letter in my hands, and his eyes widen. "All at once?"

I can't help smiling. It does seem hard to believe. There were so many letters. "Yeah. It took me all day, but I got through them."

"So you never read a single one." He laughs and shakes his head. "To think I spent so much time writing all of those…"

I laugh, and soon we're talking like the old friends we are. We talk for the next two hours, laughing hysterically at some points. After some time, he looks down, and goes quiet for a few seconds. I get worried. "Peeta?"

He shakes his head, and tentatively starts, "Are you… ever going to talk about Gale?"

My heart sinks, for more than one reason. I do not want to think about Gale. I do not want to open the floodgates of pain that have been completely forgotten about for the last couple of hours. But what scared me was the look in Peeta's eyes when he asked. He looked scared, pained, hurt, so many things.

He still loves me.

I groan inwardly. What else was I expecting? I knew that. I'd known from the start that he wouldn't have any chances to meet anyone new in the Capitol. I knew that he would come back and fight for me. Even when I saw him yesterday, I knew he still loved me. But seeing his eyes like that… I feel horrible.

And suddenly, millions of pictures of Gale flash through my mind. Gale throwing blackberries at me while mocking Capitol accents. Gale hugging me before I left for my first Games. Gale picking me up in the small wooden house by the lake after I'd asked him if he wanted to run away with me. Gale trying to make sure that I was safe every step of the way.

Everything in me wanted to stand up and leave, but I owed it to Peeta not to do that again. I manage to look into his eyes and say, "What's there to talk about?"

"Where is he?" Peeta asks gently, obviously knowing that this is a hard topic for me.

"District 2." My voice is flat.

"Do you know how he is?"

"He has a good job. He's helping to rebuild some of the damage that was done during the war."

"Oh." Silence. "Have you seen him?"

I shoot something of a glare in his direction. "I've been holed up at home for the last half a year."

"Katniss…" Whatever he's trying to say, he's having difficulty getting it out. "You have to talk to him. Make it right with him. You guys had no closure. And unless you really hated me, you probably didn't read any of his letters, either."

My first reaction is to be angry. But then I consider who this is coming from, and I eye him suspiciously. "You really want me to talk to him?"

He bites his lip, then nods. "He's your best friend, Katniss."

I nod, my eyes stinging with tears. Why is Peeta doing this? Why am I feeling like this? Why am I so reluctant to talk to Gale?

I slowly stand up, thank Peeta for the great chat, excuse myself and make my way back home. When I fall asleep, I still have a wrenching pain in my chest with Gale's name on it.