Prim never died. She never died in my world. I just can't end this story now. Katniss does all the killing and Coin dies and blah, Prim's non-death doesn't involve it. Finnick never dies either. Okay, that was just cruel! Finnick had no reason to die, and so he doesn't. I don't want them to die, so that's the way it's going to be! Oh, right. All rights go to you, Suzanne Collins.
16 Years Old.
The hovercraft sways a little and I hold my stomach, groaning. I've vomited up my breakfast and whatever else that was left in my stomach.
She's suppressing a smile, I can see. I throw her a glare as I wipe my mouth with my sleeve and sit across her, just a seat off so we can stretch our legs out and rest them on the seat across. As we do so, I put my hand on her leg and she does smile, a smile I haven't seen on her when she was young. It's a smile with no trace of worry.
The trip to the Capitol had been surprising. After the war ended, and Katniss assassinated President Coin, Gale took off to District 2 for some bad ass job. He calls once in a while to check up on us, and every single time, he asks about Katniss, but just out of kindness. He knows he'll never get over the girl on fire.
Things turned scarier during the trip when Finnick invited us over to his house. We dug through a box full of his old stuff and he put on a net that went together at the groin, and struck poses for us and talked to us in a seductive voice for the whole day. Annie seemed to have such a big laugh out of it, and their son was giggling the whole time in his high chair.
She looks at me with her pale blue eyes, they meet my gray ones, and she reaches out her hand. I take it, running my fingers with hers, closing my eyes and dozing off.
We arrive back at district 12, where Peeta, Katniss, Posy and Vick wait for us. It wasn't a surprise to any of us when Peeta and Katniss got married. It was unexpected when Gale came to the wedding. No one saw him but me; he stayed for a couple minutes, shrinking behind the crowd until he slipped away quietly.
The hovercraft starts to shake a little as I grab our luggage from the side. I start to struggle with them she walks beside me, grinning. "Need some help with those?" she asks with mock earnest.
"What, me? Help?" I scoff. "I'm probably ten times stronger than you!"
"I bet you are, Rory." She smiles, running a finger on the handle of our suitcases. "But even the strongest need help sometimes."
I'm surprised she still remembers that, even though I've thought about those words so many times I'm sure I could recite them in my sleep. I look at her, shaking soft blond hair from her eyes and grin. "The wise words of a seven year old."
She wraps her arms around me as the hovercraft sets down carefully in District 12. I see Vick, 13 years old, rolling his eyes as 9 year old Posy jumps on her heels wearing a bright pink hat.
The platform starts to go down as I pull our suitcases in one hand and curl my fingers with hers. We walk down the platform, hand in hand, as our family surrounds us, hugging us and asking us questions. I sneak a look at her, she does too, and I let go of her fingers as we turn to two different directions.