I don't really pay much attention to the trial. I don't want to see the faces of everyone who's judging me, I don't want to hear the accusing tone of the judge, and I definitely don't want to hear Finnick and Peeta's desperate calls to help me. Katniss and Gale aren't here, either because they're not allowed to or because they just don't want to. It'll probably be the last reason, since they're both in a depression caused by the death of Prim.

"Johanna Mason, twenty-two year old female, former Victor of Panem -" an old, weary voice reads from his papers.

"She's still a Victor!" Peeta's voice calls out.

The man continues as if nothing happened. "Former Victor of Panem, has been accused of serious war crimes and has therefore been -"

"She was poisoned! It was the poison that made her do it! She didn't want -" Finnick yells.

"Silence! She has therefore been sentenced to be in exile for the rest of her life."

I'm trying to not hear everything but the words are penetrating my ears. I still haven't moved or said a thing. I am just watching my arm. The wound is gone. In fact, judging by the tiny little scars, there was hardly any wound, just an excessive amount of blood and pain. Now, there are eight little dots on my arm, and that's it. They don't even look like scars and I doubt that someone who doesn't know I got bitten by a mutt would know they were scars. Suddenly, the words of the judge form meaning in my brain and I can't help but listen.

The judge continues to read from his papers. "She can choose one district to live in -"

"Four," I suddenly say.

The old judge looks up from his papers. "Pardon me, miss Mason?"

I look up and repeat myself in a toneless voice. "I choose District 4."

I move my gaze from my entangled hands to search for Finnick's face in the crowd.

A look of bafflement crosses his face right before relief takes over. I know why he's shocked. All I ever talked about in the Capitol was to go back home to District 7 and now I suddenly choose District 4, a place that basically consists of water and even though I tried I didn't succeed in overcoming my fear of water. Not completely. But no fear can force me to leave my best friend. Finnick was the first one to stay by my side, so I'm not leaving his just because I hate water.

"District 4," the judge repeats in slow motion, clearly not trusting my choice. "Very well then. Case closed."

"Hey, wow, case not closed!" Finnick stands up. "If Johanna is tried because of war crimes, why isn't Coin?"

"You mean president Coin, mister Odair?"

Finnick chooses to ignore him and continues his rant. "Apparently she was the one behind the bombing of the children. And since Johanna is being charged with war crimes because she killed twelve unarmed men and women, why isn't Coin? She killed a whole lot more than just twelve unarmed people! And they were children!"

I can see Finnick tensing up by the second and I know he's only getting himself in trouble. However, I don't stop him from saying what I've been wanting to say this whole trial.

"If she's killing innocent children then she's no better than Snow." He slams his fist on the wall beside him and walks out of the room, leaving everyone staring at him at a loss for words.

I look at Peeta, who is just as taken aback by Finnick's behavior as I am, and then look at the judge. I'm wondering if I should just go or if I have to stay. He did say the case was closed so maybe… But when Peeta gets up to leave I follow him outside. The two guards who have been around me for the past few days are at my side in a second, reminding me of the fact that I have to go to District 4 as soon as possible.

"You think I forgot?" I snap at them, then turn around to face Peeta. "Where do you think he went?"

Peeta shrugs. "I don't know." He suddenly looks uncomfortable. "I have the feeling we're all falling apart. I mean, Katniss is still pretty critical, Gale's out of the woods but having lost his best friend because of something he did made him depressed as hell, and then you being tried and now Finnick completely losing his usual calm. I don't know what to think of all this. It's like I'm the only one keeping it together and we both know I'm still not the same."

I touch his shoulder lightly. "Don't say that. We'll get through this, all of us. And you're doing much better now that you're seeing the head doctor again. And don't think about Katniss much. I'm sure she'll survive. She survives everything. And Gale, he'll just move on. That's who he is. We're all survivors here, don't forget that."

"Since when are you so coolheaded?" a voice comes from behind me.

I turn around to see a grinning Finnick. "Since you aren't anymore and one of us should be," I tell him.

"Fair enough," he nods. After a few moments of silence, he speaks again. "Let's just go home."

I shake my head. "What about Snow's execution? What about Peeta, and Katniss and Gale?"

"I just want it all to be over. I know it won't be over when we get back home but I just need some distance from it all."

I nod, understanding what he means. I look at Peeta. "What about you?"

"I'm staying," he immediately says. "For Katniss. I'm not leaving her."

A smile spread across my face and I pull him in for a hug. "Don't you worry about not being the same anymore. This new Peeta is just an improvement of the old Peeta."

Finnick and I say our goodbyes to Peeta and take a little detour to visit Katniss and Gale in the hospital, where we bump in to Haymitch as well.

"What are you doing here?" I ask, happy to see him.

"Waiting for Effie. The doctor's about to discharge her but they needed someone to pick her up and well, I'm her closest friend now since the others…" he trails off, knowing he doesn't need to finish the sentence.

"Well, we need to get going," Finnick says while shaking Haymitch's hand. "But tell her we said hi."

"If you all need anything, you know where to find us," I add. "But you'll have to come to District 4, since I'm not allowed to go to other districts."

Somehow it's very easy to speak of my punishment, probably because it's not so much of a punishment for me. We weren't allowed to visit other districts when Snow was president so not much is changing for me.

We leave Haymitch at the hospital and head for the train station, still followed by my two guards. As soon as we're on the train to 4, I tell Finnick to get some rest and eventually take my own advice.

When Finnick wakes me up – apparently he woke up a long time ago – we're already in district 4. Home.

Annie's waiting on the platform to welcome us, and as soon as she sees Finnick she throws her arms around his neck.

"I'm so happy to see you," she says in that soft voice of hers.

Then she moves to me and hugs me as well. "And you too, Johanna. I'm glad you're okay. Finnick called me from the Capitol a few hours ago, to tell me about the trial and you moving here. You can stay at our place if you want?"

One look at her face is all I need to see she's sincere about her offer, to let me stay in their house. I politely decline, telling her I need to find a place of my own as soon as possible. "Besides," I say with a grin on my face, "You basically just got married. You'll need some time alone."

"Thanks, Mason," Finnick says. "Now, let's show you around, shall we?"

Annie is all smiles when she says she'll pick out a house for me while Finnick shows me around town.

"Oh that's okay Annie," I quickly say. "I can pick out a house myself."

"No, no," she shakes her head. "I'm happy to help."

I realize she'll do it anyway, no matter how many times I tell her not to, so eventually I give in with a small 'Thank you'.

Finnick is one giant ball of enthusiasm when he shows me the town hall, the docks, the market and his favorite restaurant.

"Seriously, Jo, you'll love it here."

"So you've been telling me for the past hour," I reply with a smile.

"And now," he says in a dramatic voice when we arrive at the beach. "Time for you to meet new people."

The tour around town was nice, considering that I had to live here now and had to know where everything was, but meeting new people wasn't exactly high on my list of priorities.

"I don't want to meet new people now, Finnick!" I sigh.

"Yes, you do," he replies while dragging me across the beach to a group of fishermen on a boat. "The sooner you get settled in, the better you will feel about being here."

"But they're way too close to the water!"

Finnick promptly turns around and a worried look crosses his face. "Sorry," he apologizes. "Didn't think about that. Well, then I'll just call them over here."

He turns around and waves his hands in the air to attract the attention of the fishermen. Two older guys, one boy who looks about ten years old and one in his late twenties walk over to where Finnick and I are waiting for them.

"Guys," Finnick starts when they're standing in front of us. "This is Johanna Mason. She's my best friend so be nice to her."

I force myself to smile but judging by the little boy's scared face I fail miserably.

"Did you really kill all those people?" the little boy asks me.

I turn around to face Finnick. "Really? Such a great idea to make me meet new people. I can already feel the love," I say sarcastically.

Before I can turn around to walk away, someone else starts talking to me. "Nice to meet you," the guy in his twenties says while he grabs my hand to shake it.

"Yeah, nice to meet you too," I reply with a roll of my eyes.

The guy looks like Finnick on steroids and with longer blond hair. A long scar crosses his chest.

"Long story," he says when he sees me looking at the scar.

"No it's not," Finnick interrupts and then turns to me. "Ty here saved his grandfather a couple years ago. Got into an accident at sea and Ty had to jump in the water. The scar just proves that the sea and its creatures are deadlier than they look."

"Doesn't matter now," Ty says. "Grandpa died three months later of a heart attack. Got the scar for nothing. At least it looks badass. Anyway, we should get going. Lots of stuff to do."

The two older men, Ronn and Fabian, shake my hand as well before they go back to their boat. Suddenly, Ty turns around again. "Hopefully we'll see a bit more of you, Odair! It's been way too long, the sea misses you."

Finnick just waves and turns around to head back, swinging his arm around my shoulder.

"Let's go home now," he says. "Annie will have made us dinner. And her mother will be joining us as well. Be nice, you could use a motherly figure in your life."

I smile and nod. Yes, let's go home now.