It's been awhile, I think. So after this, there's like 2 more chaps and an epilogue. Thank you so much for your reviews and being there for this whole story. You guys are awesome. Happy reading!

Chapter 37

When I wake up in the morning, I find Peeta is gone. Prim is asleep in the bed, but my mother is missing. I get up and hear noise of water running in the bathroom. I'm wondering if Peeta left before they got here, because I don't remember him leaving. I look to Prim sleeping on her side with a hand under her head. I pull the blanket up to cover her. As I go to the wardrobe to find some clean clothes, I hear soft whimpering. I turn around and see Prim furrowing her brows and frowning in her sleep. She moves around in the blanket, and I'm thinking she's having a nightmare. I rush to her side and put a hand to her shoulder.

"Prim wake up," I say. "It's only a nightmare." My poor sister has become a victim to the nightmares. I'm hoping they're not as bad and constant as the ones I have. She continues to move around. "Prim, it's just a dream. Wake up, I'm here," I say louder. She opens her eyes.

"Katniss?"

"I'm right here, you're alright. It looked like you were having a bad dream."

She sits up in bed. She feels around the bed and holds my one of my hands. "It was about that day in the Capitol…" she says. "It looked so real, like if it was happening again." Her eyes are watering, and she's breathing between sobs. I hold on tighter to her hand. "It was Finnick that saved me." It seems she is moving her eyes to me for confirmation.

"He gave me the mask and then he carried me out of the gas. When we got out, I remember feeling really cold, almost like my limbs were frozen. My eyes were going blurry, and I noticed Finnick was being affected by gas too. He was walking slower and slower, and then he dropped me. But even when he was too hurt to move, he kept telling me that I would be alright." Prim holds a sob and then keeps going. "I still could see him a little bit, and I saw how he couldn't move. I tried to help him, but I was becoming so incredibly drowsy, and he became unconscious… That's all I remember before I blacked out. When I woke up the next day, I knew he died. I failed. I tried to, but I couldn't help him." She wipes her eyes and tries to stop her sniffling. I lay her head on my shoulder and put my arms around her.

"It's not your fault Prim. He just breathed in too much gas…"

"And he died saving me," she says gravely. "I heard Annie is having a baby, and that means that baby will never see his father. I know how it hurts to lose a father. I hate to know that baby will won't even get to see him. Life is cruel with death. It just takes people away." She borrows her face into my shoulder and cries.

"Shhh," I whisper. "Life can be cruel sometimes, and people will be taken away, but that can't stop us. We can't let tragedies bring us down, or we won't be able to live." I instantly think of what happened to my mother. "Finnick was a goodhearted person, and saving you was an act that showed how good of person he was. He knew what he was doing. He wanted to save you. He cared about you so that you could live. Because you're a good person too, Prim. You're the most caring and selfless person I know. You help people, and that's something worth saving. You'll repay him by helping Annie, okay? You help Annie like you helped me."

Prim lifts her head and nods. She takes deep breaths and calms down. We both get dressed, and my mother comes out from her shower and helps Prim with her hair. Prim doesn't mention anything to my mother. She still looks down, but I think it will just take time. I put on a long sleeve shirt and pants. I go through the drawers and find the jacket that Dr. Odessa gave me. I stare at it in the drawer, wondering how it got there.

Never mind. I don't need a jacket.

I walk with my sister and mother to the train for the hospital. I squeeze Prim's hand before she goes into one of the cars. I give a small wave, even though she won't see it, and watch as they leave. When I go back to the mansion, the first place I go to is Haymitch's room.

I knock loudly on his door just in case he's hung-over. It takes him unusually long to answer the door. When he finally does, he greets me with his permanent gruff expression. "How's it going?" he says.

"I wasn't sure who to go to, but I figure you're pretty knowledgeable of what's going on with officials right now," I say.

"Ha," he says. "Well I guess you want to hear about the Coin situation. Why don't you come inside then." When I enter his room, I find it doesn't take him long to spoil a place. There's trash and clothes on the floor. There's no alcohol to be seen, but I can distantly smell it. "So about your friend…"

"They know he did it, don't they?"

"Clearly. They found him last night and arrested him. They're planning the trial."

"When?" I ask.

"Soon, because after the trial, they'll be working on finding a new leader to replace the one he killed."

"Alright. I have to start making my case against Coin. It's the only thing that will help Gale in his defense."

"Looks like you'll still be making that speech, huh?"

I glare at him. "If that was an attempt at a joke, I don't find it funny,"

"Alright, alright. I'll help with this. We should be finding people who have the same opposition against her, like everyone who was there when she announced her idea for the Hunger Games. And the deal you had with her. You'll have to tell people about that and get witnesses; people you told. Like I'm pretty sure sending you off to war, pregnant, would get District 13 people second opinions."

"Right, but I did agree to it…"

"But she shouldn't have come up with that deal anyway. District 13 is strict on its rules, and that just makes her a hypocrite for going against her own District's laws for her needs."

She really was a tyrant. I hope everybody else realizes that too. It's my only chance in helping Gale. I fall back onto the couch. "I hope my argument is enough to save him," I say.

"You've got plenty of dirt on her, but just remember kid," he says. "He still murdered someone, so we can only hope to lighten the consequences."

"I understand," I say.

"I hope you do, Sweetheart."

I want to see him, so I go, despite Haymitch's discouragement. There are thoughts and questions streaming in my head, and if I just see him, I'm hoping it will answer everything. I'm telling him we're going to get him out of this. I'm going to do everything I can to make sure he won't live a life in prison. I'm going to as hell try.

Gale is being held on the lower floors of the mansion. It's not exactly the floor I was kept while I was in Snow's captivity. Even though, the elevator ride down makes me squirm, and the plain hallways immediately call me to remind myself that I'm not in a life threatening situation. There is a guard next to me, but he's not pulling me along with cuffs like the Peacekeepers. I'm just going to see Gale. I'm alright.

The buzz noise from the door unlocking, makes me jump. Fortunately, the guard doesn't pay attention to my stability, or he would probably be the one taking back to my room. We enter a room with a table and chairs. I sit knowingly in a chair a few feet from a guard. Another door opens, and Gale walks in with guards behind him. He is wearing cuffs and plain clothing. He takes a seat in the chair opposite of me.

"Hey Catnip," he says plainly.

I lean on the table to get closer. Ready to scold. "Gale, why did you lie to me that you had a plan?"

"It was to keep you from doing something dangerous,"

"To keep me from doing something dangerous? And it wasn't for you?"

"I couldn't let you do it, and I knew if I told you what I was planning, you probably would have tried to stop me."

"Hell I would have. You did exactly what you told me not to do, hypocrite."

"I guess I am, but I did it for districts. If somebody were to do it, it had to be me. I couldn't let you face the consequences doing it yourself. You have done enough. You went into battles; you risked your and your baby's life. You sacrificed so much already. So I thought it needed to be done, and decided to take matters in my own hands."

"Gale," I say sadly. "Do you understand what they could do to you for doing this?"

"I know full well. You obviously thought about it. I told you I have my own life, and this is a part of it. When you mentioned the stuff Coin did, I knew I had to do it. It's what I chose." I sigh, and cross my arms. "You were absolutely right about Coin. I found out something about that hovercraft in the City Circle."

I look up at him, in interest. I've told him about the hovercraft, but it seems he's found out something more. I squeeze my arms waiting for him to continue.

"You know those bombs and capsules that the hovercraft unleashed? Well after watching videos of the war that Beetee set up, I knew I recognized them." Gale looks solemnly back to me. "I'm the one who designed them. It was one of my traps."

Yes, I'm taken back. I'm trying to wrap my mind around it; the gas capsules and the bombs were his design. Gale always spoke violently about things having to with Capitol and the war. I knew it frightened me when I watch him and Beetee working on them, but here it is in demonstration. It personally hurt people that I cared about.

Gale can tell I'm a little shocked with the news. "Katniss," he starts. "When I showed Coin the designs she rejected them. She told me they were too complicated to use behind enemy lines. She said that they didn't want to risk losing hovercrafts for that purpose." I look down for a second trying to listen to his defense. "She lied! She took the designs anyway and used it to hurt those people!"

Kill those people. It also caused my sister's nightmares and made her think she has fault in Finnick's death. Sweet Prim. Not to mention it caused her blindness. Weapons do a lot more than just hurt people physically. Gale must have known that, right?

I look back to Gale. He's mad, but I can see some resentment. I lean closer to him. "Don't worry Gale. We're going to make a case against her, for every threat and evil plot she did. There's no way they'll ignore it."

Gale nods. The guard tells me my time is up. I'm escorted out of the room. On the way back to the elevator, I run into Hazelle.

"Katniss," she says. She's smiling at me, but I can see she's sad. Her eldest son is being trialed for murder. I can't imagine what she's going through. "Did you visit Gale?"

"Yes, I did," I answer.

"That's nice of you. I'm happy he has a friend like you. You must be busy with your due date coming around the corner," she says.

I put a hand to my stomach. "Uh yeah. It's getting closer."

"Congratulations to you and Peeta. I know you are young, but I believe you'll be a wonderful mother." The sadness behind her smile hints something else, but I know she means well. "Well, I should be going," she says. She smiles and walks past me.

I turn around and see her go. Then I speak out. "I fully believe that Gale is innocent." She looks back at me. "I have a supportive case, and I'll do everything I can to help him. I've know him, and always known he's had good intentions." Hazelle looks like she doesn't know what to say. I stand there awkwardly for a second. "Have a good evening, and say hello to Posy for me," I say. I turn around and walk to the elevator, not bothering to see a reaction from her.

I walk back to the mansion quarters. I really need to start to organize my thoughts for my case. Gale's future is at stake. I've never been good at rhetoric, or have had any kind of eloquence. So this is going to be difficult.

I'm so concentrated on my thoughts that I don't see door open. I don't stop myself from bumping into it, and I can't stop myself from falling back.

"Who the hell-" I start to mutter.

"Katniss!" I notice Delly Cartwright is standing in front of me. "I'm so sorry! I didn't see you there, and I was holding stuff and-"

"I'm alright, Delly."

"Oh no, but you're in such a fragile condition, and I could've been more careful!" She immediately helps me up.

"I'm alright, really."

Delly talks more how sorry she is, and then a boy that looks like Delly comes from the room. "What happened?" he asks.

"I hit poor Katniss with the door!" Delly exclaims.

"What's going on?" Peeta appears from the door. He looks to Delly, then to her brother, and then to me. "Are you alright, Katniss?"

"Yes, I'm fine," I say, trying not sound irritated with convincing them.

"Are you sure?" he asks a little more sober.

"Yes, I'm okay," I say. 'What are you all doing?"

"We were just helping Peeta move in," says the boy.

"And it looks like we're finished," says Delly. "We've got to get back to the encampment, because we're volunteering."

"Thanks for helping," says Peeta.

"You're welcome, and oh it was nice to see you, Katniss." Delly departs with her brother. "And I'm sorry!" she calls out. I just wave back, and then look to Peeta.

"You're moving into your own room? No more hospital?"

"Nope, they say I'm okay to be living on my own. I still have to go to the hopital for appointments, though."

"So do I," I say. "You know time seems to moving really fast."

"Why do you say that?" he asks. He looks at my expression for a moment. "It's because the baby, isn't it?" I lean against the wall.

"I'm still worried about it," I say.

"I'm nervous too," he says.

I look up into his eyes. "That's the first you mentioned of being nervous about it."

"Well, you were the one was really uncertain about it. I just wanted to be certain for you."

"Thank you, but you don't always have to be, okay? We can both be nervous about it."

"Alright," he says.

We walk out of the hallway and I notice the room is very similar to ours. I sit on the couch and take a pillow to hold. "So," I start. "We should really discuss what we're going to do with when they're born"

Peeta looks around room. "We'll probably all move in and take care of him or her," he says. "We could probably find a crib or a cradle, and put it over there," he says pointing to a corner. "We're going to have to get a lot of supplies like diapers and blankets…" I start to notice the expression Peeta takes when talks about this. It's like a mix of the look of concentration when he draws, and the look he gets when he watching a sunset. "… If we find some clothes for him or her, we could put it-" He stops talking and sees me looking at him. "What?"

"Nothing," I say. "You just have it all planned out, don't you?"

He grins and looks to the side. "Pretty close, but truly I don't think any couple is fully ready when they're having their first kid. I guess you try be as ready as you can be."

"We'll be okay, won't we?"

He sits next me and takes my hand. "We'll be okay."

I put a hand to my stomach. It's only a short time away till I have this baby. This whole pregnancy has been so emotionally exhausting, starting when I found out from Dr. Odessa; then the whole risk I was taking for going to the districts; having my mother find out I was pregnant, and then telling Gale; Peeta coming back hijacked, and having to help him remember, and then having to tell him that I was pregnant with his child when he didn't really know who I was. It will probably only get harder when they're born.

"What do you want to name them?" Peeta asks.

"Their name?" I ask. I realize while I was moping how bad it looked, Peeta was being the optimistic one and thinking about this baby as something wonderful. Why am I so bad at this?

"Yeah, we don't know if it's a boy or girl, but we can come up with some names. Would you want to name them after someone? Like… Rue?"

"No, I don't think so. I don't want to see people that I've lost in my child. They're already in my dreams."

"Yeah, I guess I don't want them to be named after someone that has died recently."

"Prim suggested we name them after my father, if it's a boy." I take a breath and lay my head on his shoulder. "I don't know if I want to. I kind of want it to be its own person. You know what I mean?"

"Yeah, I get it," he says. "Maybe we just need to see them first to come up with a name."

"We'll decide when we see them," I agree.

"Whatever we come up with, I'm sure it will be perfect," he says. I rub my hand on the baby. I look up at him, and he caresses my cheek. "And they'll be perfect." His blue eyes look into mine. I find myself leaning closer to him. I hesitate just an inch away. The sense of being loved like this urges me to just get as close as I can. I close my eyes and feel my lips press against his. He doesn't move away, but complies. He leans in further, and I feel something like happiness flood inside. I've never let myself get too close to him, because of the highjacking, but I really feel that he's better. I can feel the baby moving, but I put it aside in my thoughts right now. The kiss gets deeper, and I let my hand go into his hair. Then I have to breakaway.

He's about to lean in again, but I stop it with a hand to his cheek. "I have to breathe, dummy." He has the biggest smile on his face, and I'm only guessing my smile is just as wide. He clears his throat. "You realize that was my first real kiss with you."

"For you, but I clearly remember mine first real kiss with you was when we were on the beach in the Quarter Quell."

"It's too bad I don't remember that one."

"Don't worry, it wasn't as good as this one," I say. He laughs, and then he leans in closer. I gladly comply and move in, but the pain of a tiny person kicking around halts it. "Ow."

"What's wrong?"

"Your son or daughter is kicking around."

Peeta leans close to my stomach and puts his hands on it. "Calm down, baby. Your mother says you're kicking around too much. It's alright to move around once in awhile, but your mother would appreciate if you didn't kick so hard."

"It's still kicking away," I say.

"Huh, they're not even born yet, and they don't want to listen to us."

I laugh, but I'm still in pain. So I sing a small tune from the Meadow Song, and find the baby has stopped moving so much. "They're calming down," I whisper, as if I don't, I'll wake them up.

Peeta rubs where the baby is. "They're lucky to have a mother with such a beautiful voice."

"They're lucky that they will have such a wonderful father," I say. I give a small peck on his lips and put my hand over his.

This is what I want to have for them. Two parents that love them and will never leave them; something that I didn't have.

Peeta releases his hand from between the baby and mine. He becomes solemn and looks forward. The odd change of mood gets me nervous, so I ask what's wrong.

"I know a lot is going on right now with Gale and Coin, but I wanted to ask you this before the baby is born…And I think we should do it, but Im asking you and I don't want you to do something you don't want to do. Anwer honestly." He turns his head to look at me. He looks almost completely straight. "Will you marry me?"

I hope the characters weren't OOC or anything. I'm always second glancing my chapters for that. And I chose this little moment for popping the question, even though it's chaos right now. By the way, the story I'm considering wirting a post mockingjay, but it is not a sequel to Breaking Hope. It's not about them falling in love and stuff. I guess it has it has a little of that, but there's a whole new plot, and problems. And evil people!

Thanks for reading! - cheezebuns