Author's Note: Eee! Fluff chapter…well I consider it a fluff chapter you'll see towards the end! Plus I give my back story on the wicked witch of the…sorry Mrs. Mellark :P

Thanks go to my reviewers: JB, Otter, and EWD

Chapter 33

Family

Gale is strong but I know he won't pick me up and sling me over his shoulder, like he did Prim last year, unless he absolutely needs to. A strong grip on my shoulder is all he needs right now to lead me away from the stocks. Where Ryen is locked into for another nine days.

"He'll be fine" Gale reassures, "they won't hurt him, they expect the elements to wear him down now" he pauses, "we won't let that happen though"

"Why did he do that?" I ask, Gale laughs, "what's so funny?"

"He didn't shun you" he says reading between the lines of my question, "he's being a brother to you, he knew you wouldn't leave on your own, because you want to be with him when he needs someone, but he doesn't want the peacekeepers to hurt you"

I give him a weary look, "do you think they could lay a finger on me if I didn't let them at first?"

He smirks, "of course not, but they could tell you if you try and fight they will hurt him and would you let them if it saved Ryen any harm?"

I look down ashamed, because yes I would get beaten to keep family safe, that's what I did two years ago didn't I?

He squeezes me close, "don't worry though he will make it thru this, okay?"

"He just didn't look like himself, he looked, defeated" I lean into his arm, "he's not himself all tied up in the stocks, bruised and beaten"

"No one is the same after that, but he's still Ryen, just a bit wiser"

"Buck is a coward" I spit

"He always was, we got into a fight at school when we were thirteen, he went cryin' home to his mother, and his mom came to my house and yelled at Ma. Ma told her off, sayin' he was mouthin' off…Buck never knows how to take responsibility because his mother coddled him and worked her viciousness in him, but being brave will win out just not yet"

"When?" I ask softly

"When it matters, that's what happened last games right? Peeta risked his life for Katniss, because she's important to him. Buck I think just has to realize what is right," Gale replies.

I realize how much Gale means to me, no matter how dire I feel about what's going on, he seems to know I need someone to tell me I am doing the right thing when I doubt myself.

I tend to be doing that a lot lately, with Peeta gone, Ryen being punished and the low burning jealousy of Buck. Gale is my constant, I can trust that he will say what I need to hear. He might not be a brother but he is family. Like Hazelle. I can't call her mom, but she treats me like a daughter, giving me a dress, and Posy hugging me like I will disappear sometimes.

"Can we go see Hazelle and your brothers and sister?" I ask

"I thought you would want to see Buck?" he says

"No I need to see family, and your family makes me feel like family more than Buck Mellark" I reply

A gentle squeeze of my arm and we head for the seam.

Hazelle welcomes us in, "I couldn't make the hearing, how long is Ryen stuck there?" she puts a kettle on.

Posy runs in and Gale scoops her up, "ten days Ma, can you tell Ari she didn't do anything wrong? She thinks Ryen hates her" he teases me

Hazelle laughs, "Ryen? Ryen Mellark hating someone? We talking about the same boy that found Vick when he wandered close to the district border when he ran away? Brought him back and told him that he was needed here when your Pa was home sick with flu? Vick was what four back then?"

"Five, I was eight and you were gonna have Rory when he ran away, I mean not right away…" Gale is rocking Posy on his toes, Posy seems to hold onto him like a security blanket, "Posy are you okay?"

"Don't mind her Gale, she's been having nightmares, have been off and on since last years games, those wolves right" Hazelle says

"I can relate" I mutter, Gale tilts his head and passes the five year old to my arms, Posy doesn't seem to mind and wraps her arms around my neck, "I had nightmares of snakes, big snakes, big ugly snakes" I make a face and she gives a weak giggle yet buries her face in my shoulder, I look at Gale helpless.

I don't know how to deal with the troubling feeling I have in my chest, I don't like how Posy is acting.

"They are just bad dreams" I whisper to her, "they can't hurt you, you wake up and they are gone, then you think of happy things" she shakes her head, "no happy things?" again she shakes her head, I shush her as I sit down with her in my arms and in my lap, "there has to be something you like"

"She likes anything pink" Gale looks at his little sister teasingly, "right Po?"

"I can tell you what I like" I say and she unglues herself from my neck to look at me with her big grey eyes.

"In district Five, when you climb up the proper side of a cliff just as the sun sets, it looks like the whole of the ground is set aflame like you are sitting right above the hearth of a warm fireplace and the glow dims as the sun sets. You look out into the horizon and the sky goes from red to orange to a violet and then the glow fades and the night comes in and the stars are so bright and on really good nights they seem so close you could reach out and grasp them with your outstretched hand" I raise my hand and Posy reaches out with me, "like you could rearrange them to make your very own constellations…and my dad said all those constellations are people we lost, and they look down on us to make sure we are okay"

"Like papa?" Posy says, she probably never knew her dad

"Yeah like your papa and my family" I feel like I will get emotional, Gale seems to get it and takes Posy away who had unlatched herself.

"That's a happy thought right Po?" he nuzzles her and she nods and rubs her eyes, "right off to bed with you, you think of Pa lookin' down on you and he's protecting you from those nasty wolves"

"'nigh nigh" Posy waves to her mom and I as Gale carts her off.

"That was well played" Hazelle passes me a cup of tea, "you still believe it?"

"Sometimes, I haven't prayed in a couple years now, I stopped when I became spy, I was too tired to do anything when it was time for lights out"

"Well I think you cured the nightmare problem" she looks at me calmly, "you'll make a great mother"

I choke on my tea, "no, maybe a good aunt, or godmother, well I am a godmother to my nephew in Five…but mother?"

"Not many can calm Posy when she's that upset" she says, "me, Gale and now you…only three that do it without resorting to sleep syrup" she looks at me tilting her head, "you don't want kids?"

"Ma!" Gale is in the doorway

"I'm just curious is all" she looks at me calmly, "I mean I didn't say when you two are getting married did I?"

Again I choke on my tea and I can feel my face blush.

"Ma, for godsakes! You're embarrassing me!" he rolls his eyes, "sorry Ari, Ma can get nosey"

I wave him off, "it's alright, I guess its just a mother's duty, at least it isn't Mrs. Mellark"

Hazelle laughs, "that woman, I'm surprised she could think of children let alone bare them" she stops herself and looks at us a bit shocked.

"What d'you mean Ma?" Gale sits us back down since we were doing what few dishes there were.

"My fault, started talking about children and you brought us Maris" she sighs, "She wasn't such a sour woman, she was actually quite pleasant. She always had eyes for Harry, I mean who wouldn't he was like you Gale, heartbreaker but just a lot gentler letting girls down. Mind girls nowadays are a bit tougher. Anyway Harry had eyes for Sophie alone, but instead of becoming lovers they became very close friends, never broke that friendship not even now. But as you know Sophie married Katniss' Father Erik, nice fellow, you'd remember he used to share game with us when you were little and your father got sick ." She looks at Gale for acknowledgement, when he nods she continues, "so when Harry realized he didn't have a ghost of a chance with Sophie he married Maris, it was fine. They were happy, then she got pregnant with Ryen. Then a miscarriage, then Buck was born a couple years later. Then two years after he was born she had Peeta. Poor Peeta, just a little one when he was born, and Maris had complications with that pregnancy, doctors said she shouldn't try for anymore. Sophie was learning to be a midwife with me but wasn't there since she had just had Katniss so I was alone to assist with his delivery. She bled, a lot. Almost lost her. When the doctor warned her she ignored it. I think it was part due to Harry always wanting a daughter of his own." She sips from her tea cup, "she had another miscarriage and then two premature stillborns, both girls. After that they stopped trying, I think that's when it started to get worse. Plus there was little Peeta"

"what about Peeta?" I ask

"Peeta was a sickly baby, much like Gale was, we were afraid he'd have asthma, or something else. But Harry would be up with him when he had colic, or whoopin' cough, the croup, that boy, never saw a soul so gentle" she sighs, "well Maris saw how her sons had so much of their father in them , Buck was a middle child, with Ryen being a talented baker from a young age, and little Peeta taking a lot of the attention she used that to poison Buck against us, she blames Sophie and I for her trouble getting and staying pregnant, Sophie for not being there and I for being there, imagine that. Hates the people of the seam, since many of us are hearty stock, whereas merchant children were a bit more fragile."

"She doesn't like Ari that much either" Gale says, "guess cuz you did what Harry did, and fall for someone from the seam" he looks at me

"He was hoping for a girl when Peeta was born" Hazelle chuckles sadly, "After your tour dear I went to the bakery to get a rare treat of a couple muffins for the kids and all Harry could talk about was how little Peeta had made friends with the victor and how you were such a sweet child, and this and that"

I blush and Hazelle laughs softly, "don't like compliments do you? That's alright, we have enough pompous people around humility is a rare sight"

"I kinda called Harry 'Dad'" I say softly

"Lord he will be over the moon now" Hazelle chuckles and pats my hand, "family protects one another, and holds each other up, that's why when Ryen sent you off it wasn't to upset you, he was worried, like I am sure Peeta and Gale would be that you'd do something reckless"

"I just don't like seeing family in trouble" I say, "and that's all I see right now"

Hazelle clicks her tongue, "sweetheart, trouble happens, and in district more than in the Capitol I am sure, but that shouldn't make you resent them trying to shelter you" she taps my hand, "you are their sister in some odd way, so of course they want to protect you, plus I know when you aren't around Gale-"

"MA!" Gale is blushing, well I guess after all the harshness this causes me to giggle softly, "oh great laugh at me!" he smiles and comes around and tries to grab me as I dodge, and put Hazelle between us.

"But you're so cute when you're embarrassed!" I tease

"Oh you want me to embarrass him? How about-" Hazelle smiles gamely

"Ma! Don't!" Gale says, "Please!"

"Maybe I should hold onto these stories for a girl's night" she smirks, "yes, I think I will"

Gale groans, "you are never having a girl's night!" he glares at his mother

"Of course I will, what is a Hen night?" she teases back

"Hen night?!" I look on shocked