Hi there everyone! Sorry I haven't updated in awhile, but I've been very busy! I am very proud of this chapter though so everyone please enjoy!
NOTES: The Back To the Sea playlist is officially up on ! So if you want to listen to some music for the story while reading the story, go and find it! If there's any questions, feel free to PM me!
DISCLAIMER: All characters belong to Suzanne Collins (Kye belongs to the fabulous BananaLlama6)
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Chapter 8: Back To the Trees Part 2
Johanna's POV
Since Beetee isn't in the physical shape to carry my heavy suitcases all the way across the square and then to the station, and since his prissy assistant won't help him, we all decide to flag down a horse drawn carriage and ride to the station. It's a pleasant day and since we're celebrities around here, we get a free ride, so I don't mind.
Throwing my stuff in the trunk I watch the three kids eagerly go up to pet the horse. Peeta and Annie stand by, watching the three of them encircle the steed and jump around in glee.
Patrick is surely the funniest to watch considering his chubby legs barely allow him to stand and he keeps falling over. Peeta chuckles and holds his arms up so he can wobble around without falling over. Ruella's eyes are wide with wonder as she gently smooths out the mane of the horse and Torrence seems to be attempting to have some sort of staring contest with it, squealing in mock dismay whenever it repeatedly tosses it's head towards Ruella.
"The horsey likes you, Patrick!" The boy with the bread laughs as he holds his son out to the horse who licks his entire face. The little boy just laughs and claps, repeating the word "horsey" over and over again.
Katniss is busy negotiating something with the man who's been helping with the luggage so the driver of the carriage walks over and stands with the kids, a friendly smile on his older face. He's holding something in his fist while he shows Ruella the horse's favorite place to be pet.
"Would you kids like to feed the horsey?" He asks as he bends down, becoming eye level with the trio.
"Yeah!" Torrence practically jumps six feet into the air.
"Alright lad, you seem awfully excited, so you can go first!"
"Yay! What do we feed him?" Those sea green eyes are neatly popping out of his head.
"Well I have some sugar cubes in my hand that you could give him! Old Fritz here really likes them..."
Before I can even gasp there's a small cry from beside me and I see Annie crumple into a compassionate Peeta's arms. I glance from the cubes in the man's hand to the horse to the kids who seem awfully confused. If only Beetee was in the physical shape to carry my stupid bags back...
"Annie, sweetie, it's okay." The blond haired man murmurs.
"Mommy, what's wrong?!" Torrence runs over and hugs her leg which is quivering. Peeta is the only thing keeping her up. "Does you not like sugar?!"
I'm probably getting a bit over worked up, but seeing Crazy break down like that irks me more than I'd like to admit, so I push Katniss and Peeta's kids back and approach the driver. He knows who I am, he knows who Finnick was, he knows about Annie's mental instability, he was alive during Snow's reign so he should know better.
"What were you thinking?!" I spit rudely.
"W-what do you mean Ms. M-Mason?" The driver stutters nervously.
"With the sugar cubes?! That's Annie Cresta! Do you know her story with Finnick Odair or have you been living underneath a tree stump for your entire life?!" My words fall into the air and sink into his skull like acid realization.
"Oh I'm so sorry! I completely forgot, please let me make it up to you somehow, Ms. Mason!" I can tell he actually does feel terrible but this doesn't mean I'm letting him off the hook right away.
"Well I'm not the one you should make anything up to! It's Annie!"
"Yes ma'am!" He then proceeds to walk over to Crazy and apologize for his actions a seemingly countless amount of times and it helps her to calm down a bit. She picks up her son, Peeta keeping her stable from behind, and the little boy begins to work his magic. Torrence whispers into his mother's ear and hugs her gently. He even pops a sugar cube into his mouth which makes Annie practically squeeze all the life out of him because it reminds her exactly of Finn. Mentally, I wish I could do the same, but I have an image in Panem that I couldn't possibly tarnish. Especially in my own district.
"Wow! Torrence can calm his mother just like Finnick Odair could calm her! This is truly an amazing scoop, I'll have to use this...maybe pull some studies with the little guy." Cadilla thinks she's talking to herself, but Katniss and I can hear her clearly. We both agree that if she ever lays a hand on Torrence, or any of the kids for that matter, we'll freakin kill her.
"I'm so sorry for all this inconvenience but if you children still want to feed Fritz, I have some carrots in the back!" The driver smiles nervously. Annie gives him a reassuring pat on the back to tell him that she's not mad.
"We want to feed the horse!" Ruella smiles, holding out her hand politely for a carrot.
"Here you go, darling."
Ruella approaches the horse like she's instructed, subtly yet friendly, and slowly holds out the orange vegetable. Old Fritz takes one look at the carrot and begins to nibble on the pointed end. Peeta snaps half a million pictures of his little girl when she looks back and smiles at all of us. Soon, the horse finishes the carrot and begins to lick Ruella's fingers, causing her to laugh.
"Daddy, can I have a horse?!" She asks, hugging Fritz's head.
"Of course, dear!" Peeta smiles.
"Peeta." Katniss looks at him sternly. She obviously doesn't want a horse.
"Not fair! If Ruella gets a horse, I want a horse!" Torrence pouts as he tugs on his mom's sundress.
"Look what you started, Peeta." Annie giggles, wiping her puffy eyes.
"C'mon gang! We have luggage to drop off and a district to explore!" Beetee calls from his seat in the carriage. There's a chorus of cheers and we all take our seats behind the driver with my bags.
The ride through 7 is more amazing than I remember it to be, and maybe that's because the last time I did this I was all alone. Tilting my head so that my gaze lands on my friends around me, I take in their company. The kids are still asking questions about buying horses to their parents, both mothers seem to be rather annoyed with Peeta at this point, and Beetee is keeping Cadilla occupied so we don't have to speak to her. What makes me the happiest though is that the young and bubbly assistant is at the back of the carriage, so Brainless and I could easily shove her off. People wave to us as we ride by, some throw flowers and candy, which the trio of kids immediately begin to devour. I tell them to save it for the special sweets shop that we have in the square. It'll probably be our first stop after dropping off my stuff.
"What are you all doing in 7?" The driver asks us from up front.
"Johanna wanted to pick up some of her stuff and we wanted to see the district! It's so beautiful..." Annie explains with her voice full of adoration.
"Ah, I see. Yes it is a lovely district, and I can only thank you all for that! Your work in the past means so much to all of us." He tips his hat.
"Thank you, and your welcome. We tried our hardest." Katniss looks off into Peeta's eyes, cracking a rather forced smile.
The rebellion is a tough topic for us all. All of us but Cadilla who doesn't seem to care much.
As we pull up to the train station, all the adults with the obvious exception of Cadilla, carry at least two bags inside and put them on the train to 4 that's leaving tonight around six o'clock. Once this is finished, we bid our driver goodbye and walk to the middle of the square so we can decide where to go first. The three littler kids want to go to the candy store which is only about twenty steps away considering it's one of the shops that surround the square, Annie and Peeta want to go on pony rides, Beetee and Cadilla want to go to the lumberyard to see the technology we use, and Katniss and I just don't give a crap as long as we can trip Cadilla into a pile of horse dung.
"I say we let the kids pick." Katniss says, swatting a couple mosquito bugs away from her face.
"CANDY!" All three of them chorus.
"I think they want to go to the candy store." Beetee chuckles and the kids tug on the ruffles of his pant legs.
I lead our odd little party across the grassy way onto the circular dirt path where all the old time looking shops lay. We hike up the steps of the wooden building and walk trough the door. The kids immediately run inside, greeted by the chiming bell and the sweet smells of cinnamon and sawdust, like a Yankee candle type scent. Jars of homemade gobstoppers, jawbreakers, and peppermints rest on intricately carved wooden shelves, pounds of chocolate and various fudge/fruit combinations sit behind glass all around the store and ending at the register, lollipops and fuzzy animal puppets hang from a wooden rack in the middle of the room, and any other sweet treat you could think of was littered around the store. It was all homemade, and all three of the children were in heaven. They each had their own way of enjoying the atmosphere around them.
Ruella walked around with a freshly woven basket that they give you in her hand and was only taking what she felt she needed. Not too much, but not too little. Most of her choices consisted of a rainbow of saltwater taffy and fudge. Like her mother, she was smart and resourceful when it came to picking the things that she wanted most. She was probably the most well behaved out of the trio as well.
Patrick waddle-ran around the entire store on his chubby toddler legs, laughing continuously for minuets upon minuets. Peeta ran around with him, throwing whatever he wanted into the basket that the youngest kid dragged behind because he knew that nobody but Katniss would mind. The little boy obviously didn't need anymore sweets considering the fact that his father would pamper him with all the treats in the bakery that he could find. His basket was a jumble of random items.
Torrence darted around as if he was attempting to be a ninja, knocking practically everything over in the process, and inspected what he was interested in very carefully before snatching it off the shelve. Then he would romp over to Annie and ask for her approval with everything he found, she would always approve with a laugh and a smile. His basket was filled halfway with blue raspberry lollipops, and gummy killer sharks. He went around and offered everyone a piece of his candy, everyone but Peeta declined his offer.
Once the final pieces of candy were dropped into the baskets, Beetee stepped up in front of the adults.
"Let me pay." He said.
"No, Beetee. It's not fair, Peeta should pay because he's the one who made Patrick's bag overflow." Katniss protests.
"I'll pay, I'll get a discount here." I try to step up but Beetee pushes Brainless and I back.
"No. This is my treat since all of you have been so kind." His heart seems set, so none of us disagree, but it doesn't stop Katniss and I from crossing our arms and looking royally ticked off.
We watch as Beetee wrangles up the trio and they each hand him a basket, one at a time, and he puts them on the counter near the register. A discount is offered because of who we are, but the District 3 male kindly declines and says he'll pay full price. The candy is weighed and then put back in the baskets which are given back to the kids. While Beetee finishes up, the three run over to us.
"You can start snacking, Torrence, but not too much!" Annie tells him and he nods as he begins licking a lollipop.
"Okay Ruella, you've been good so you can eat two pieces of fudge but Patrick your kinda chubby so-" Katniss stops mid sentence as she sees her toddler is too far gone. He's nibbling the beak off of a gummy duck. Peeta earns a glare from his wide when he takes a handful of his son's candy. We all chuckle and leave the shop, the bell saying goodbye as we step outside.
"Did you guys like the candy store?" I ask.
"MMMHMM!" They're muffled by the treats in their mouth.
"Can we head to the pony rides next?" Annie says with a small tone.
"Of course, Sweet Annie." Beetee smiles.
We continue walk to the tune of hooves clicking, patrons talking and laughing, and the kids chewing noisily on whatever candy they can sneak over their originally set limits. I don't stop them, they're having fun, and that's good. It takes me this time to realize how different the world is now. People are actually happy. I look to the ground up ahead where a bomb crater has been filled in by a couple trees and flowers. Some scars never will heal, no matter how much you try to cover them up.
"Here!" Patrick squeals from his father's shoulders as soon as he sees the tiny stable for the rides. Peeta jogs over so him and his son get there first.
"Get in line! Orderly!" I round the three kids into line in the order of oldest to youngest. Annie slips in behind Ruella who is now second to last.
I know the kind man who operates the rides, his name is Tedder, and we're on friendly terms. Tedder is also rather smart so I probably won't have to kill him like I had to threaten our other driver with.
"Hello everyone! Welcome to District 7!" He greets with a smile. "The Mockingjay! Katniss Everdeen! It's an honor..." He bows and shakes her hand.
"Thank you..." She breathes. I can tell she's looking at Tedder's war injury. When 7 was infiltrated during the war he lost his entire left arm. The kids are looking at him strangely, but Ruella tells the boys that it would be impolite to say something.
"Who's first?" Tedder asks.
"Me!" Patrick squeals.
"Right this way young man!"
Patrick, Peeta, and Tedder walk over to a dirt brown pony who stands there in an extremely calm fashion as the little boy is lifted on by his father. Tedder grabs the reins and begins to lead the animal around. Patrick is squealing and laughing while Peeta walks next to him so that if he manages to fall off somehow than he'll be there to catch him.
"Horsey!" The two year old cries out. Katniss is actually laughing and smiling besides me.
"Look at you sweetie!" She calls out.
"Thanks, dear!" Peeta laughs and calls back.
"I was talking to the baby, Peeta." Brainless shakes her head in mock disapproval. I can tell that inside she meant it for the both of them. They're relationship used to be somewhat sickening, but now that it's begun to grow on me, I feel more alone than ever.
"One more time around, little guy." Tedder tells a clapping Patrick.
Next up is Torrence, and Annie trusts him enough so that she doesn't have to walk besides him the entire time. He bounces up on top of the steed and grabs the reins for himself, very eager. Tedder laughs and takes one reign so he can at least lead the pony around.
"Look at me, mommy!" He smiles.
Annie takes out a camera and snaps a quick picture. Cadilla on the other hand, isn't as subtle. She walks up in front of Annie and begins to practically give the boy a photo shoot with her giant camera. Brainless and I are sharing ticked off glances and wondering why she has such an interest in Finnick and Annie's son. Soon Tedder tells Cadilla to stop so the pony doesn't get scared, which she reluctantly agrees to, but snaps a few pictures afterwards just to spite him. Beetee's the only one who can make her stop.
"Can I go around again?" Torrence asks.
"Sorry son, you've already been around five more times than your little buddy over there!" Tedder exclaims, gesturing to Patrick.
"Ok..." Torrence slips off the pony, and clumsily falls into the dirt.
Cadilla is the one to dust him off when Annie helps him over.
Ruella doesn't need any instruction. She walks over, steps up onto the pony, smooths out her small checkered dress, and sits in wait for Tedder. The man is obviously impressed with her, and takes her around a couple extra laps while Peeta snaps more pictures of his little girl. Once she's done, Ruella hops off agilely and walks over to her mother.
"Is that everyone?" Tedder asks.
"Can I go?" Annie asks, raising her hand halfway.
"Of course you can, darling!" Tedder politely takes Annie's hand and leads her over.
"Good girl..." The red haired woman says as she plays with the pony's mane.
I take a couple pictures for Torrence of his mommy looking happy. He'll need them to look at.
"I think she likes you, Mrs. Odair!" Tedder laughs as the animal turns around to lick Annie's hand which makes her giggle.
"Can we keep her?!" Torrence cries from behind the fence.
"I'm afraid not, sweetie." Annie chuckles.
Peeta is about to say something, but his wife cuts him off with a look and he just slings his arm around her. Brainless doesn't want anyone to see the smile playing at her lips.
Once Annie's ride is over, we bid a farewell to Tedder and start to head for the lumberyards. I advise the three parents to carry their kids through the yards only because I don't trust them to wander around the site on their own.
"What sector of the yards did you work in, Johanna?" Cadilla asks with her clipboard in her hands.
"You'll see when we get there." I snap back.
We approach the gates to site 154 where Blight and I both used to spend the majority of our days hacking away at logs and cutting ourselves with the sharp equipment around us. Loud screaming machines and shouting make it hard to hear, but it's nothing I'm not used to. Patrick begins to cry from all the noise and Peeta switches kids with Katniss who attempts to calm down her baby boy. By the time we're deep into the yards it's about 5:30 which means we only have a good forty-five minuets if we want to make sure we catch the trains. Katniss and Peeta snd their kids will be going back on a train to 12, Beetee and Cadilla will be going on a train to 3, so Annie, Torrence, and I are the only ones going back to 4. Why this upsets me the slightest, I don't know.
"Once you get into the thick of the trees, it's really tranquil and beautiful." Annie says, looking up at the canopy of trees that surrounds us.
There's a silence as everyone takes everything in. The beauty of this place seems like such an impact on all of us, even Cadilla, and it makes us think of what it was like six years ago.
Katniss thinks about the bombs, screams of her name, Prim in her arms, the smell of Snow's roses, and the lizard mutt chomping at her entire team. Some of their lives ending right in front of her.
Peeta thinks about the torture, the hijacking, how her nearly killed the only person in the world he ever loved, how he did kill a squad member, and the shackles of his wrists that dug into the skin and revealed his blood. He had refused to take them off.
Beetee thinks about Wiress's final moments, the knife in his back, choking on blood, being hurt by his own element, making weapons with Gale Hawthorne, and then having them kill a good amount of his own. He was blamed even though he did nothing.
Annie thinks about the lifeless eyes of Kye staring back at her, the waves crashing through the arena trees, calming words Finnick would whisper, how she exited reality, how Finn promised he'd come back, and how Beetee told her of his demise. He never got to meet his son.
I don't know what dark things Cadilla thinks of, but I'm sure thoughts whir around in her crooked mind as well.
I think of the blood rain that choked me, Blight trying to save me but losing his own life, the shocks of electricity and sloshes of water, sharing a room with Brainless, wondering if I would live through training to get one visit from Finnick, and hoping my hair would grow back. It did grow back, but it doesn't mean I'm happy.
None of us are truly happy.
It's almost like telepathic communication with what happens next. We all walk out of the glade of trees and head for the exit of the lumberyards. As we walk to the train station, I don't bother to say goodbye to Tedder, my house, Blight's memorial, or anything. Nobody says a word, but I can see tears in my party's eyes. It's 6:25, we're in the station. Nobody as ready to say goodbye as they think they are.
It's like we need each other or something.
"Thank you..." Katniss whispers into my shoulder as we embrace.
"No, thank you." I respond.
Beetee comes up to me next, but looks rather nervous about hugging me. I wish I could tell him that the immediate anger I felt for him about two days ago had faded, and I just hated Cadilla, not him. He's surprised when I pull him in.
"Say you'll visit again." I tell him.
"It's a promise." He chokes back.
As we break away, I turn to Peeta who is hugging Annie tightly, whispering in her ear things that I may never know. We hug, exchange kid words, and then I embrace his kids. Neither Brainless or I decide to say goodbye to Cadilla, but we do agree that the next time we see her, we'll make her miserable.
With final glances and lingering goodbyes, we all go our separate ways.
I help Annie and Torrence find a comfortable place where they can sleep on the way back to 4. They get a long booth and I sit across from them with the many bags of luggage that we picked up earlier. Torrence curls up and falls asleep next to his mother, but the woman's sea green eyes pierce the impending darkness of the sky and train atmosphere. She's looking at me with intensity.
"Are you okay?" She whispers.
"Mmhmm." I look out the window to see the District 12 train pull out.
"I'm happy we got to come here..." Annie is holding back tears.
"I don't know if I can agree." My voice is louder than I want it to be.
"Was it hard?"
I glance at her before answering.
"Extremely."
She nods and sits back against the cushioning of her seat.
"You should get some sleep, Jo."
"I will, Crazy. Don't worry." This time, I don't mind her calling me Jo. She's a part of Finnick, so she has to become part of me.
"Goodnight, Johanna." Annie wraps her arms around Torrence and pulls him close, her eyelids fluttering closed.
My gaze travels to the window at the moving world around me. A small part of me wants to drop everything and stay in 7, but another small part of me wants to throw myself out the window, so I just decide to stay put. The zipper on one of my suitcases is slippery and my fingers continuously fumble with it. When I finally get it open I pull out a box and read the tag.
"To Johanna Mason, District 7 Victor. From, Blight Jordan."
The candy is hard as the rocks that emerged from the bomb craters, but I pop one in my mouth anyway, and try to get it soft enough to last for the rest of my long train ride.
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And so ends the District 7 trip... Sorry to end it all angsty like but it was the only way! New characters will be coming soon, so stay tuned for Gale and more! As for now, please PLEASE review! ~PurpleKittyFangirl