Thank you SO much everyone for all the reviews! They were so very amazing. I love you aaalllll. This chapter starts off directly after the last, so enjoy!

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I was frozen still with recognition for a second. The ice in my chest thawed a little when Ivy crawled over into my lap from Peeta's. She put her head on my collarbone and sniffled, the effect of seeing me in the "princess dress" worn off.

"Momma told me he's in heaven." She whispered delicately, and then looked up at me with her big green eyes. "What if he doesn't like it there?"

I wiped away the tears in my eyes and shuddered slightly. "I don't know…"

There was a pause between the four of us. I wasn't sure if Peeta remembered Caroline from District Thirteen, but I knew that he never met her son, Aden. When I glanced up to see his reaction, it was upset, but not quite as crushed as mine felt. He caught me looking and released a low breath.

"I'm sorry." He said in a soft voice, but that was it.

Ivy was apparently done with sitting in my lap because she slid out and back into her mother's arms. Caroline held her daughter tight, but didn't cry. The look on her face was enough, though.

"It's getting late." Her hazel eyes flicked down to Ivy. "We'd better get going."

"I-I didn't…" I stuttered, feeling guilty, but when we all stood up, I received yet another look that said it for itself.

"It wasn't you, Katniss. And thank you." Caroline hoisted her daughter up into her arms. "I just… It's Ivy's bedtime."

I nodded stiffly and took a step closer to Peeta as we began the ascent back upstairs. He stuck close, but didn't try to hold my hand or put his arm around me or anything. Everyone stayed quiet on the way, and honestly? I didn't know why I was so moved by finding out exactly who Caroline and Ivy were, who they were related to, and whatnot. All I knew is that I had a feeling we're be seeing them a lot more.

We were all standing at the front door at the end of five minutes. Ivy slid out of her mother's arms only to be lifted into mine. She had a face on, puckered sweetly. Looking unsure of herself, she frowned and whispered in my ear, "What's your name?"

I couldn't help but laugh, and I heard Peeta snort too. "It's Katniss."

She grinned, baring shiny pearls of teeth. "Can-iss."

"Good enough."

Ivy seemed thrilled that she finally knew my name, then she looked over at Peeta, beaming.

I lifted a hand to point at him. "And that's Peeta."

She covered her face, still grinning. "…Peeta."

At least she got one of our names right. Sighing slightly, I t set her down and looked at Caroline. "So…see you another time?"

"Hopefully, yes." She smiled weakly at us. "I, um… I work at Nik's. The tailors. If you ever need…to find me."

"Thank you." Peeta nodded his head, and accepted a very tight hug around the leg from Ivy. "We'll see you again, then."

Caroline nodded, eyebrows slanted sadly. "Yes…" Her eyes moved back up to me. "Thank you again, Katniss. She'll—we'll always remember that."

I nodded."Goodbye."

Goodbye.

And with one last smile backwards, Caroline and Ivy left out house to the warm summer night.

The second they were gone, I put my elbows in the wall, my hands behind my head and closed my eyes in exhaustion. My legs were trembling slightly, but I don't think it was 100% out of shock. I was just worn out…from everything. Wearing the fire dress, getting to hold Ivy, finding out Aden was her brother, everything. I felt Peeta appear next to me. But before he could say anything, I detached myself from the wall and took a shaky breath.

"I'm going home." I said, rubbing my eyes, which were stinging.

"I—" Peeta sighed, but shook his head at me. "Katniss, I… Please stay. Please."

"Why, Peeta?" My words cracked, but I didn't even want the answer. Swallowing hard, I just rubbed my eyes again. "Never mind. I'm going to go to the bathroom."

The moment I turned away from him, a tear fought its way out of my eyelashes.

PEETA'S POV

I watched as Katniss stumbled into the hallway bathroom, sort of hunched as she walked. I knew that took a blow on her, but I could get the image of her out of my mind, wearing the fire dress, a four-year-old on her hip, laughing like there was no tomorrow. Or yesterday. It was obvious I was shocked about it, but it was even more obvious that she was seriously upset by…something. And she wanted to go home. I should probably feel bad that I stopped her form doing that, but I had grown so used to having her in my arms at night. It was lonely without her.

The buttons were cold on my finger as I punched in the scarcely-used number. The other end of the receiver rang a few times, then it picked up.

"Peeta?" Prim's young voice sounded worried over the phone. "Is everything alright? Is Katniss alright?"

I hesitated. "Everything is okay, but… Well, we just had Ivy and Caroline over. You know, the two we introduced you to in town."

"Oh, yes." She perked up. "How was it?"

"It was fine, but Katniss surprised me. I left one second to do something, and when I came back, she, Caroline and Ivy were in the basement. She was wearing her fire dress, Prim. And laughing, holding Ivy. It was amazing, but then—" I let in a sharp breath, not knowing how to continue.

"Then what?" Prim's voice was as soft and fine as spiders silk, worried also.

I paused. "Do you remember back in District 13, that time we took you along with us to get baby clothes from the market?"

Silence from the other line, then, "There was woman…and something about someone dying."

"That woman was Caroline. Ivy had a brother, Aden, which Katniss met the first time she went to the market. The second time it was Caroline, and she said that Aden had died." I didn't understand fully myself, but I got the gist of it. "We learned that today."

Primrose stayed quiet for only a few seconds, only her breathing audible. A quick inhale. "Oh. That's…"

Feeling foolish, I tossed aside the story and got to the point. "It kind of affected Katniss when we heard, and she's really upset not."

She made a worried voice. "Where's she now?"

Another pause. "I'll be right over."

The phone clicked off right when I heard Ms. Everdeen's faint voice speaking to Prim, asking she who called. Then beeping filled my ear, and I hung up.

When I got back to the living room, Katniss was still not back. It was an automatic decision to throw some cookies in the oven; baking calmed me down. By the time the door opened quietly while I was in the middle of putting dough on a sheet, my hands were no longer shaking.

Prim poured a couple of glasses of water and stood next to me by the counter, sipping one.

"She's still not out." I slid the tray into the oven and accepted the second glass of water. "But I have a feeling she's in the bathtub again."

Back in District Thirteen, whenever Katniss was upset or got distressing news, she would run away and find a bathroom to lock herself in. She's lay there in the tub, still in her clothes, letting the shower soak her.

"I'm not sure whether or not we should try and get her out." Prim looked concerned, knitting her blond eyebrows. "Because it wasn't really…that big of a deal, right? She dind't know this Aden that well, did she?"

I shrugged, but shook my head. "No, she didn't."

Prim refilled her glass. "I'm sure she'll be out in a minute."

'A minute' turned into fifteen, and the cookies were done. I put them on a plate and set them on the coffee table. "I'm…I'm worried about her."

Prim sat down with me and picked at her fingernails. "I'm sure she'll be fine. It wasn't that big of deal, she should be out soon."

I took a golden-brown cookie from the tray, with no exactly intention of eating it "I know. But it's not just that. She wants to completely start over this time.

Prim frowned.

"For real. She serious, and I'm worried that she might do something reckless. Again."

Prim frowned a second time. Then shook her head. "Katniss is strong. And I know for a fact that things are going to be okay this time. When she first…ran off, it was because of you. She couldn't stand being alone, it scared her. But now she has you, and she has Mother, me, Ivy, and Caroline as well. If she starts almost back at the beginning, I can see that working."

Honestly, I hated this girls' optimism, but I was the one always nagging Katniss about it. Maybe it's time to trust her…

The doorknobs of the bathroom rattled suddenly, and Katniss came out. Her face was red and hung, but she looked a bit better than she had before. Stopping briefly to do a double-take at the couch, Katniss realized who was here.

"Prim." She said, eyebrows raised in surprise. "What are you doing here? It's late."

Though Prim didn't answer, Katniss caught on and glanced at me. But her reaction wasn't at all what I'd expected.

"I don't need help, Peeta." She said crossly. "You didn't need to call her."

Prim looked alarmed and slightly hurt.

"You seemed upset." I kept my tone even, face calm. "Since you don't like discussing anything with me anymore, I thought talking to someone at least might be g—"

"Well, you thought wrong." Her eyes pierced into me like daggers. "I-I don't need anyone. Anyone. You didn't have to wake Prim up to give me therapy sessions. I'm fine."

I blinked once at her, then got up. She watched me as I passed in front of her and began walking upstairs. Wordlessly, of course. I wasn't angry at her, really. Just disappointed. You know, good memories can only be tasted and felt for so long after. Unless you somehow got them down, they could be lost forever. And the feeling of Katniss laughing with Ivy in her dress was so real.

As soon as I got up to my room, I pulled out a canvas and my paints, setting them up on an easel. As I mixed the different oranges for fire, I imagined Katniss coming up here in maybe half an hour to apologize or yell at me some more, telling me she was leaving for the night. She may, she may not. Her and Prim were probably down there talking right now, despite her fit. No worries.

I felt the image live on my hands and I began to paint, only the first smears of the beginning visible. But in time, it grew clearer. Katniss, in the dress of golden red jewels, head thrown back and laughing. Ivy giggled in her arms. It was perfect.

An hour passed, then another, and Katniss still hadn't come up. I was losing myself in the painting, and when it turned midnight, I was finished. Though some of the paint was still wet, I hung it on my wall anyway. I think I captured fire okay, but what really got me was Katniss' perfect olive face, thrown back in a laugh, long black hair falling down her shoulders. And though it was my first time painting Ivy, I though she looked like, well, Ivy. Perfect.

I took a brief moment to use the bathroom and scrub all of the acrylic paint off, then got to thinking about the real Katniss. Perhaps she went home with Prim? I wasn't positive, but just to make sure, I headed downstairs to check. My feet thudded mutely on the carpeted stairs as I went down. And when I got to the living room, I found myself a surprise. Katniss and Prim had fallen asleep together, flopped in a comfortable-looking position.

Shaking my head adoringly, I went to go retrieve some spare blankets fro the hall closet. I knew Katniss couldn't be angry for too long, and she didn't kick her sister out, which was a good sign. Part of me had thought she's go back to her Mother's house when Prim left, but either they were really tired, or both decided it was okay to fall asleep here. I didn't mind, of course, I just thought it odd.

When I got back to the living room, neither Katniss nor Prim had stirred. Smiling lightly to myself, I draped the blanket over them both. Katniss let out a breath and mumbled something in her sleep, but then resumed her quiet snoring. I stifled laughter as I went back upstairs.

I was lying there in my bed after turning out the lights. Last night I had been excruciatingly lonely and worried, but tonight I feared nothing. Katniss was fine, Prim was fine, I knew where both of them were, and they were close enough to take care of in an emergency, And with that secure feeling in my head and the smell of drying pain still hanging, I let myself be pulled under by the alluring arms of sleep.

oOo

That one wasn't quite as long as my others, but it was still good, right? Please review a whooole lot you guys! I don't care what you say, just acknowledge you're all there are reading!