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Rekindling

Chapter Eleven

Since it was so early in the morning, not many people were outside to see us. Greasy Sae was sitting on her front porch plucking the feathers off of a chicken when we passed her. She left the chicken on the front step when she started following us. A few others, like Peeta's employees who were already up early baking bread saw us too, and they stood on the front porch of the bakery, watching us pass. Most of them looked worried, since Peeta was visibly bleeding and we were dressed in outfits they recognized from the Games. They didn't stop us for explanations, though; instead let us sprint through town.

I smelt the fire before I saw it, and sent Peeta a worried look that he returned back to me as we got closer and closer to our house. The smell only got stronger, and then we could see the black clouds of smoke rising into the sky. When we finally got near the victor houses, we saw our house, Haymitch's as well, burnt to the ground.

Paylor and a group of military members were in front of our house with their guns pointed and their crew running around, trying to communicate what was going on. There were trucks pulled up close enough so that their hoses could reach the fire. Peeta and I shoved passed a few people, getting to the front of the crowd.

Caesar Flickerman was standing right at the edge of our house as walls that weren't completely fallen to the ground blazed with fire. No one seemed to notice me or Peeta because they had their guns pointed at Caesar. He was pointing a gun back at them, looking so stupid and so out of place with it. Paylor was shouting something at him, and I couldn't understand why no one was shooting him.

Peeta looked just as angry next to me, but he wasn't looking at Caesar, or looking at the other people around us for a familiar face. He was just searching the woods behind our house, the streets beyond us, the ashes from his spot. I knew he was looking for our kids.

At the sight of my burned down house, and seeing neither of my kids, I used my last arrow that was already in my bow to shoot Caesar since no one else seemed to have the authority. I dropped my bow from my hands when Paylor and her team turned to see me, and watched Caesar Flickerman drop to the ashes of my house. He had the most sickening smile on his face as he dropped, which caused me to rush forward, wanting to make sure he was dead, and beat him to death if he wasn't.

I was a few strides away from him when I felt a pair of arms grab me around the waist and pick me up from the ground. I fought against who was holding me back, screaming Caesar's name, and Rye and Rosemarie's and Haymitch's. I punched at the arms of who was holding me, and knew when he turned me to take me further away from the house, that it wasn't Peeta, because Peeta was standing shocked a few feet away from me.

"Katniss!" I heard Gale say in my ear. "It's alright."

"It's not alright!" I screamed, hitting him, kicking my feet. "Let go of me!"

He released me slowly, but then Paylor and a few of her people were rushing at me, and before I knew it, I was being handcuffed and pushed toward one of the white vans lining the street. Someone had Peeta too, and they handed him over to Paylor as one of the armed military men pushed me down on the edge of the trunk. Peeta pressed the side of his body against me as they ordered him to sit down next to me.

Paylor stood in front of us, looking at us with great concern in her eyes. Gale stood next to her, saying something about it not being necessary to handcuff us since we weren't a danger to them.

"Where are my kids?" I screamed, kicking dirt off the ground at Paylor.

"Katniss, Peeta," she started, looking at the two of us. "How many people did you kill tonight?"

"Every one that tried to kill us!" Peeta said back. "Now, answer my wife's questions!"

"Where are they?" I asked again, this time looking at Gale because I knew that he would tell me.

He shook his head, his face red with emotion and I was instantly sobbing, and Peeta was screaming at Gale about his stupid plan that took us away from home, and inevitably left our kids defenseless.

"You son of a bitch!" Peeta screamed, jumping forward at Gale, only to be shoved back onto the car by one of Paylor's people.

I couldn't catch my breath as I cried, thinking about my kids being in the house as it burned to the ground with only Haymitch to comfort them.

"I don't know where they are," Gale tried to explain. "We have no way of knowing they were in the house."

"They were in the house!" I shouted at him. "We left them in the house!"

"Unhandcuff them!" Gale said angrily to Paylor. "Now."

Paylor looked at him with raised eyebrows, as if wondering where he thought he got the authority. Gale was stronger and bigger than Paylor and even if there were tons of guards around, he wouldn't have a problem forcing the key from her. She knew that too, so handed him over the keys so that he could release us.

"Don't try anything," Paylor said to me and Peeta once Gale was done.

I shook my head at her, hating her and everyone around us because they just didn't get it. They didn't get that we spent the entire night fighting for our lives, only for the most important people in the world to us to be gone when we got back. Our lives were over.

"Gale," I said, hiccupping. "What happened?"

Peeta was crouched over so that his head was between his knees, and I knew he was going to be sick from the loss of blood and the adrenaline coursing through him, and because it was taking everything I had not to be sick myself at the idea of my kids being dead.

"We weren't here when it happened."

"Of course not," I said, angry. "Otherwise my kids wouldn't be dead!"

Gale flinched, looking down at the ground because he couldn't come up with anything to say back. I heard a woman's voice from the other side of the van, asking about me and Peeta. I figured it was Greasy Sae, but then I saw Effie turning the corner, stopping when she laid eyes on us. I started crying all over again, because seeing her was like seeing my mom after a while of being homesick.

She rushed over, grabbing me in her arms. She put a hand on Peeta's shoulder and I leaned against her. Her perfume wafted into my nose and I started to remember everything about the Games and about the advice she and Haymitch had given me and Peeta before and after them. They never could have prepared us for this.

"Where's Haymitch?" Effie asked Gale, her voice wispy and light even around this mortifying scene of burning houses and murder.

"I don't know," Gale replied.

"Oh, Haymitch," Effie said with a click of her tongue. "Never was good at sticking to schedules!"

I pulled away from Effie. Peeta looked at me and then back at her. She had grey hair that was straight and in a bob. She looked so much more human without her wigs, but she still had that smear of colorful lipstick on her lips.

"What do you mean by that?" Peeta asked her.

Effie turned toward Gale, waving her hands in the air as she talked to herself about something under her breath. She paced back and forth just past the street and the three of us watched her in confusion. She placed her hands on her hips and looked out at the victor houses, taping her chin.

"Oh there!" she said in a sing song voice, waving her hand in the air at someone. "There they are! How sweet."

Peeta and I jumped off of the trunk of the van and stood with her. We didn't see what she saw, only the orange glow of our burning house and the other vacant victor houses. But then, as Effie said Haymitch's name again, we saw the front door of one of the vacant houses open and Haymitch step out of the house. He had an irritated look on his face, like maybe he wasn't up to listen to Effie, but Peeta and I didn't care about that right now. What we cared about were the two kids tucked under Haymitch's arms as he carried them our way.

Peeta and I ran to Haymitch, running as fast as we had home, and nearly knocked him over when we grabbed the kids. Rosemarie squeezed her arms around my neck as I picked her up and her hair still smelt like the strawberry scented shampoo I had washed her hair with before we left. Rye babbled to Peeta, and Peeta squeezed him tight, kissing him over and over again.

"Mama," Rosemarie said, looking me in the eyes. "I love Uncle Haymitch."

Peeta and I laughed. Haymitch let out a sigh.

"We do too, Rosemarie. We love Uncle Haymitch too," I said.

I grabbed Haymitch in my free arm and hugged him tightly. He resisted at first as I pressed my face against his alcohol scented shirt, but then he hugged me and Rosemarie back.

"We played hide and go seek," Rosemarie told us as I let go of Haymitch. "And lava monster."

"Lava monster?" Peeta repeated.

"If you touch the fire you die," Haymitch explained. "I'm surprised they didn't know the game."

"Oh, Haymitch," I said with a sigh, shaking my head.

He didn't realize how important he was to us. He just stood there as if we were visiting outside like we did when Peeta went off to work each morning. He didn't act as if he just saved our kids. Greasy Sae came over then, and since she followed us when she saw us running through town, she had seen everything.

"Let me take them," she said to us, giving me and Peeta a concerned look.

I hesitated, not wanting to let Rosemarie go, but then I saw Paylor and Gale and Effie behind her and knew we had to talk. Greasy Sae took the kids past the vans and street, probably having them sit in the grass near the woods, far away from the commotion near us.

"We need to discuss what went on tonight," Paylor said, looking at me and Peeta seriously.

"What's there to discuss?" I asked her, raising my eyebrows. "Gale asked you to be here and get rid of Caesar and his people before this happened, but you wouldn't send anyone to help us."

"Katniss," Paylor said, irritated. "Do you realize how many people have died keeping you alive?"

"Yes," I said, nodding my head. "But I didn't ask for any of it. I woke up one day the face of a rebellion, and then to the news that people were stalking my family fifteen years after that same rebellion."

Paylor looked at me and I could tell she felt defeated, because she didn't have a good response to my reply. Effie crossed her arms over her chest while Gale shifted his weight from one foot to the other as he watched us.

"Let's try not to kill anyone anymore," Paylor said, annoyed. "Can you at least agree to that?"

"Yes," Peeta said, nodding at her.

She backed away from us and turned to her crew, leaving us be.

"Listen, Effie, we need to thank you for what you did," Peeta said.

"We Hunger Games survivors have to stick together," Effie said, smiling over at him.

I didn't mention that she herself didn't survive much of anything since she was the one who thought the Hunger Games were a big, big, big deal when they were going on, but she helped us more than I ever thought was possible, so I couldn't blame her.

"Haymitch, you knew everything, didn't you?" I asked him.

"Just a few things," he said with a shrug. "Effie wouldn't shut up about it."

Effie gasped quietly at him, still thinking he was as rude as ever after all these years. She shook her head, mumbling more to herself.

"How'd you know we'd be able to handle it?" Peeta asked him.

He pressed his hand against the cut on his head, and I realized that we both needed medical attention. I looked over at Gale, who was thinking the same thing, and he left to find someone to help.

"Those people, they only knew how to watch people die. Not kill them or protect themselves," Haymitch replied.

"The odds were always in our favor," Effie said.

Peeta and I grinned, because even though the phrase was such a reminder of the Hunger Games, we realized that it was so relevant to the Games, this night, and to life in general. If the odds weren't in our favor, we would have never made it this far.

"How'd the fire start?" I asked Haymitch. "Did they torch the place thinking you were inside?"

Haymitch shook his head, glancing at our houses that were now just ashes.

"Do you know how fast alcohol burns?" Haymitch asked.

"No, how fast?" Peeta asked, glancing at me.

"Fast," Haymitch replied, keeping his eyes on the flickering piles of ash. "Really fast. Just blows right up."

He seemed satisfied, like alcohol had been his weapon of choice all along, and maybe it had and that was the reason for his constant supply. Before any of us could say anything, Gale was back with a medical team, who rushed me and Peeta away from Haymitch and Effie. We sat near the vans for awhile while they cleaned us up and examined our injuries.

From my spot, I could see Haymitch and Effie standing next to each other talking. They were looking out at the houses, and Effie linked her arm with Haymitch's. She leaned her head against his arm, and even though I could tell he was telling her that she was a crazy lady, he let her stay right there.

An hour later, we were done being patched up and Peeta and I were back with the kids. We were sitting on the grass while we watched the vans and cars being packed up while some of Paylor's people walked around making sure everything around the fire was secure. Gale was standing with Paylor as they monitored the progress, and I couldn't help but wonder if Gale would one day take over her job.

"I'll be right back," I told Peeta, whispering so that I wouldn't wake up the kids, who were sleeping between me and him.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"I just need to check on something."

He nodded and let me go even though he was skeptical, and I walked past the row of vans and cars. No one stopped me when I got closer to where our house once stood. I glanced behind me and saw Gale watching. He started making his way over to me, slowing when he was in the front yard. He glanced behind him, maybe to make sure no one saw that he was letting me get a closer look, and nodded at me to hurry.

I walked over to where my front porch once was, and the only thing that remained was the blackened front steps. Caesar was just a few feet past the steps, but in the ashes of my house, I could see two more bodies. The white Peacekeeper uniforms told me that those were the last remaining enemies.

I took a long look at Caesar, whose hair was burnt as his head lay in a pile of ashes, once I got to him. The arrow that killed him stayed stuck up in his chest. He didn't look like the man Peeta and I knew when he was interviewing us for the Games. There was a look of craziness to him now, and I guess he had to be to start a fight he knew he couldn't win. Although, when I saw the rose on his chest, bubbling and oozing out purple, I realized that his fight was still going, and that his plan was not yet finished.

"Get back!" I screamed, seeing the look of alarm on Gale's face.

Of course, this fight couldn't just be over once Caesar Flickerman was dead and once we were finally home. Of course, there had to be something added to make it interesting. And just as I was running away from the house, I felt the heat of fire on the back of my arms and saw in front of me the look of disbelief from everyone too far away to help.

The last thing I saw as my head collided with the ground and before everything went black was a golden dandelion, squashed into the grass from someone stepping on it.

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