Hey, everyone! Here is the first chapter of Part Three: The Lucky One! I'm hoping to get at least five reviews before updating the next chapter, so be sure to comment for a quick update! Enjoy!

Rekindling

Part Three (The Lucky One)

Chapter Twelve

My vision was blurred when I woke up in a bed that wasn't mine. I was in a house, though, because there weren't hospital noises or machines set up around me. My eyes were dry and I felt sandy pieces of goop in the corner of my eyes as I blinked. I was cocooned under a white blanket as if someone had gone around my body and tucked the blanket under me along every inch. As I kept blinking, my vision slowly got better, and I finally saw two feet propped up on the edge of the bed. I followed the legs of the person they belonged to and saw Peeta sitting in a chair.

When he saw that I was awake he seemed surprised, but then he seemed relieved as he scooted the chair closer to the edge of the bed, taking his feet off of the mattress. My hair was sprawled over my pillow and I could see the waves in it when he carefully brushed a hand over some of my hair on the pillow.

"You're up," he said, smiling over at me.

He rested his hand on mine and I held it because just as he spoke a shooting pain danced across my forehead. He obviously sensed that something was going on with me, because he grabbed my arm and looked at me seriously, as if helping me brace the pain.

"Does your head hurt?" he asked me, lowering his voice probably because he thought his first two words were too loud.

"Yeah," I whispered, feeling how dry my mouth was when my answer came out in a croak.

"Drink some water," Peeta said, grabbing a cup from the nightstand next to me.

It had a bendy straw in it, so he just held it to my mouth so that all I had to do was sip. Peeta seemed mysterious to me all of a sudden. I felt like I was still half asleep and wasn't sure if I was actually up yet. He set the water back on the table and leaned his elbows against the mattress, peering over at me.

"You were sleeping for a few days," Peeta told me. "You hit your head pretty hard."

"Something exploded," I told him.

He smiled softly and nodded.

"Yeah, something exploded."

"What exploded?" I asked him.

"The rose on Caesar Flickerman's jacket was explosive. Once the pollen in it got to a certain temperature, it caught fire."

I remembered the rose, the purple substance dripping from it, but the person Peeta mention rung no bells. I tried to think of who he was talking about, because he said the name as if he expected me to know the man, but I remembered nothing related to the name.

"Caesar Flickerman?" I repeated, shaking my head because I didn't know who he was talking about.

Peeta's left eyebrow flickered the slightest, like he was thinking something, but didn't want to reveal what he was thinking to me. I stared at him while he ran his index finger over the top of my hand.

"Just out of curiosity," Peeta started, smiling at me like an adult smiling at a child. "What were we doing last night?"

I thought of the last couple of days and thought of Rye and Rosemarie being in danger. There had been people coming after them, so Peeta and I did what any parents would do and went after them before they could get to our family.

"We went after people who were going to hurt us and the kids… Rye and Rosemarie," I said.

"That's right," Peeta said, relieved again.

"You seem relieved that I knew that."

"It's hard to tell what your head injury could have done."

"You mean like made me crazy?" I asked him, joking a little bit to lighten the mood.

He smiled and laughed with me. The motion of his finger on my skin made me shiver, which he noticed, so stopped. I grabbed his hand in mine and squeezed it as I took him in. He had a bandage taped to the side of his head, running from his temple to his ear, and another bandage circled his upper arm.

"Are you okay?" I asked him.

"I'm fine," he said. "I'll heal."

"Where are the kids?"

I looked across the room at the door that was opened halfway to see if I could get a glimpse of them, but only heard Rosemarie's laughter. The morning sun coming in from other windows of the house outside of the room streamed in from the door, brightening up the room since all of the blinds were shut on the windows around me.

"They're just hanging out with Gale," Peeta said.

I nodded, hearing the pattering footsteps of their bare feet on the floors. Peeta could tell I was hoping to see them, so he stood up and opened the door further. He disappeared for a few seconds and came back with Rye.

"Hi, Rye," I said with a smile, reaching for him when Peeta was closer.

Peeta set Rye on the bed next to me and Rye instantly grabbed the blanket over me, breaking me away from the tight confines of the blanket when he tugged at it. I smiled at him because I didn't feel as trapped anymore. I wiggled his hands in the air, laughing when he did.

Rosemarie ran into the room a few minutes later and bounded onto the bed. I flinched because she knocked my leg, and Peeta made a face that meant he saw what she did. He scooped her up and set her down closer to my head so that she didn't have to climb over me, like I knew she would.

"Hi, Mama," she said, pressing her hand against my forehead.

Peeta smirked as he sat in the chair.

"Does your head feel better?" Rosemarie asked me.

"Much better," I said, lying just a little bit.

"Can you braid my hair?" Rosemarie asked. Her hair was tangled and falling in her face. "Daddy can't do it."

"Maybe a little bit later," I said with a laugh as Peeta shrugged. He must have been on hair duty when I was sleeping.

"Alright, guys, I think Mom needs to rest," Peeta said, lifting Rosemarie from the bed and setting her down next to him.

He picked Rye up from the bed too after I fixed a fly away hair on his head and made his way to the door. They had only been in the room for less than a minute and I was already exhausted, which just told me I was a long way from being better.

"Is Uncle Gale going to have to go home now that Mom is up?" Rosemarie asked Peeta as she grabbed his hand.

"We'll see," Peeta said to her, leaving me alone in the room.

My eyes were growing heavy now that I was alone and had nothing to look at but the dim room. I could barely keep my head from falling sideways onto the comfortable pillow, but wanted to stay awake since I had been sleeping for so long. When Peeta came back, creating noise as he and Gale walked into the room, I jumped.

"Hey, Catnip," Gale said, walking over to me and pressing a kiss on the top of my head.

He smelt like grass and firewood, which was what I smelt as his scent lingered around me once he pulled away from me. He looked so tall as he stood next to the bed, peering down at me.

"Catnip?" I repeated, laughing at the name.

Gale's face twinged in the way Peeta's had when I asked about Caesar Flickerman. He glanced not so subtly at Peeta when I looked up at him while wondering where the name came from.

"That's my nickname for you," Gale said, smiling down at me.

"Oh," I said, not recalling that at all. "Okay."

Peeta sat back down in the chair he had been in when I woke up and Gale sat down on the edge of my bed. He almost sat on my leg with the cut, but I didn't mention that because I didn't want him to leave. I knew I'd fall asleep if either of them did.

"So, Katniss, how's your head?" Gale asked me.

"It hurts," I told him. There really wasn't much more to say.

"I have a question for you," Gale said, studying my face.

"Uh-oh," I said with a grin.

He looked over at Peeta for a second and when he nodded as if giving the go ahead, Gale asked me his question.

"Who am I?" Gale asked. "Like, to you I mean."

I looked at Peeta, but he wasn't helping me out. Gale was familiar to me, I even felt comfortable around him, so I don't know why he needed to know who he was to me… I thought he should know. He wasn't the one, after all, who had the head injury.

"You're Rye and Rosemarie's uncle," I told him.

"I know that, but who am I to you?"

I creased my forehead in confusion, not sure what the difference was, or why I was suddenly being quizzed.

"You're their Uncle Gale…so you're one of our brothers," I said, coming up with the logical explanation.

I remembered him at holiday dinners and being in family memories, so obviously he was around a lot, and by the sound of it, Rosemarie was extremely fond of him.

"I guess we're finally related," Gale said with a chuckle.

The look on his face was one of amusement and he looked to be having a hard time not laughing at me. I was very aware now, as he searched my face for something more, that he knew more than I apparently did.

"What does he mean by finally?" I asked Peeta.

"Nothing," Peeta said, shaking his head. "I think you just need some rest."

"No… Peeta, really, I've been sleeping for days," I said, shaking my head because I didn't want to go to sleep and miss out on even more.

"Don't worry, Katniss," Peeta said, standing when Gale stood also. "We'll be here when you get up."

"Peeta—"

They left me alone in the room, almost rushing out, and I did everything I could to stay awake so that maybe I'd catch a part of their conversation. But after everything that happened to me the night Peeta and I went hunting for those people in the woods, my body still needed to catch up, and I fell asleep even before I could at least ask for another drink.

Like it? Review!

Much love,

unknownbyhim22