It's time.

I grab my keys and open the door to step outside, sighing heavily. As much as I'd love to just stay on the couch and watch one of these ridiculous TV programs Capitol TV has been broadcasting lately, I have to go to work again. No time for moping anymore. As I walk down the beach, I make a mental note to call Peeta when I get back. I wonder how Katniss is doing with all her moping.

"Johanna, wait!"

I turn around and squint at the figure running towards me. It's still quite dark but as soon as she's closer, I recognize Annie.

"Hey, Annie, what's up?" I ask her.

Without saying a word, she just throws her arms around my shoulders and hugs me tightly. "Good luck today," she says in her soft voice.

"You got up this early to give me a hug?" I ask a little skeptically, but then I remember it's Annie.

"I thought you might need it," she answers with a shrug, a small smile still plastered on her face.

"Oh, well, thanks."

She turns back around and walks home, leaving me sort of dumbfounded but also slightly more willing to go to work.

I put my hands in the pockets of my sweater and continue my walk to the docks. When I arrive, I can tell from Tyree's face that he's surprised I actually showed up.

"Hey," he greets me.

I just nod and turn my head. "So where's the boat?" I ask immediately, not giving him the chance to ask me how I'm doing, or something like that.

"Are you sure you're ready for that?"

I close my eyes and hold back a grunt of frustration. "Yes, I am sure," I say through gritted teeth.

"Okay then," he simply replies.

Tyree leads me to one of the docks and steps onto a boat. The dark red paint is peeling off and it looks as if the boat has had to endure its fair share of storms but I can still make out the white letters on the side.

"Kay," I read. "Nice name. Your mother's?"

Tyree turns around and looks at me for a second before grabbing a large net laying on the floor. "No," he simply says.

I quirk an eyebrow but don't say anything after that. It's obvious the name of the boat shouldn't be discussed and frankly I don't really feel like being the perfect conversationalist today.

"So, eh, yeah this is called a seiner," Tyree begins sort of awkwardly. "It's because we use a seine or dragnet to catch fish."

"Can't we just move on to the actual fishing," I ask, running out of patience and willpower to stay put on the boat. I swallow a few times and try not to focus on the sound of waves crashing onto the boat.

Tyree cocks one eyebrow before he speaks. "No, you need to know about everything before you use it."

I suppress a heavy sigh and just nod as Tyree explains how the nets are used to catch fish, and how we're supposed to gather the fish onto the boat. "So when the net's in the water, it encircles a school of fish, and then we haul in the wire cable with this," he says, pointing to a metallic handle, "which will close the net and prevent the fish from escaping. After that we store the fish in the refrigerator below deck."

"How the hell did you manage to do all that by yourself," I mutter more to myself than to Tyree, but he just laughs and says, "By being creative, I guess."

I give a half-nod, half-shrug, take up the net and fasten it to one of the beams.

"So how's Annie doing with her pregnancy?" Tyree asks once we're busy.

I shrug casually. "Don't really know. Fine, I guess."

"You guess? Aren't you going to be the kid's godmother?"

"Hm-hm," I say, not looking up. "Doesn't mean I should hold my hand against her belly all the time and coo at it like some stuck-up Capitolian."

Tyree keeps quiet again and I can't really blame him. I fully realize I'm just plain shit to be around, but I promised myself I'd get through everything, so I'll have to focus on myself first and then on others.

"So, any fish you'd like to dance with?" Tyree says when we take in the first batch of fish, a smile evident in his voice.

I almost smile back at his remark. "Maybe next time."

"I sure hope so," Tyree keeps the mood light. "Proves that you're not as uptight as you seem."

"Uptight?!" I exclaim despite my broody mood. "How the hell am I uptight?"

Tyree starts laughing, shaking his head, causing some strands of his dirty blonde hair to fall out of the bun against his neck. "Wow, if I'd known an insult would get you talking, I would've insulted you a few hours ago."

"Didn't realize you wanted me to talk to you this badly," I say. "I may be different right now, but I'm not uptight. I'm fun, just not right now, okay?"

Tyree holds his hands up in mock surrender, still smirking. "I believe you, princess, you'll just have to show me someday."

I shake my head as well and roll my eyes. "And I thought you didn't flirt anymore," I mutter just loudly enough for him to hear.

A giant wave suddenly crashes against the boat, so I close my eyes and take a few deep breaths before I dare to open them again.

"You okay?" Tyree asks, a worried frown on his forehead.

"Peachy," I reply, still breathing heavily.

Tyree doesn't say anything but I can feel him watching me intently, probably expecting me to go into a fit.

I startle when I feel something heavy slam against the boat. "What was that?" I ask Tyree.

He looks up, a confused expression on his face. "What was what?"

I wait a few seconds, not really sure if I really felt something or if it was just my imagination running wild. Maybe it was just an enormous wave, nothing more. But then it happens again, only slightly different this time.

"That!" I exclaim, pointing to nothing in particular. "Did you feel that?"

I turn around to see if Tyree did feel the same. His narrowed eyes are scanning the gentle waves lapping against the boat. "Yes," he murmurs. "I did feel that."

Tyree walks to the side of the boat and leans over to see what it was, and I instantly feel on edge, my arena instincts kicking back in. Don't be silly, I tell myself, there are no arenas anymore, no Games. But I can't help it, and as soon as I hear movement behind me and turn around and throw a punch. An excruciating pain in my right hand and a sound somewhere between a shriek and a grunt prove that I indeed hit someone who wasn't on the boat before.

"Tyree!" I yell, shaking my hand as if it'll make the pain disappear somehow.

But before Tyree can do something about the stranger, whose nose I've obviously broken, another jumps on board.

"What the –" Tyree starts but is cut off by the second stranger's fist flying towards Tyree's face.

There's a bit of a fight between Tyree and the second stranger – the first one trying to stop the blood pouring out of his nose – but it doesn't last long. As Tyree holds the scruffy and wet looking man's arm in an iron grip, he asks him what the hell they're doing on his boat.

The man doesn't reply, he just grins at me. I keep a fixed eye on Nosey, ready to jump him if he tries to do anything funny, while Tyree pulls on the other man's arm. "I repeat," he says through clenched teeth, "What are you doing on my boat?"

The man starts laughing. "Well aren't you a total dumbass, we're trying to steal it, obviously."

I raise an eyebrow at Tyree. "Well, he is honest, I must give him that," I say.

Tyree doesn't acknowledge my remark. "Why?" he asks the man.

"For the fish. We're a bit short on money."

I scan the man Tyree is holding, and notice he's pretty big. He's a lot like Tyree in posture, but he looks older and more banged up by life, so to speak. His dripping wet clothes are torn and his general appearance looks dirty and bad. Nosey looks like a terribly clumsy sidekick, more around my age. Maybe they're father and son.

Tyree shoots me a look that says he doesn't really know how to handle the situation.

"Maybe, if you're so short on money, you should try working instead," I suggest, my voice dripping sarcasm.

Tyree's man laughs again, and Nosey joins him. "Why work if we can just take your fish and go on with our lives? Who's going to stop us?"

"Apparently, we are," Tyree says.

"Yeah, but once we've knocked you out, then what? You're going to report us? You're going to get peacekeepers to shoot us? What peacekeepers, huh?"

Both men won't stop laughing, and it's driving Tyree nuts, I can tell. But they're right, there's no one to stop them other than Tyree and me.

There's an awkward silence lingering next to the laughter, but before I can make any suggestions about what to do with the two men, Tyree punches the one he was holding so hard it knocks him out. With a furious look on his face, he walks over to where the other is still standing next to me, grabs his arm less than gently and ties them together with one of the ropes lying on deck.

"There," he says, "Let's drop them off somewhere far away from here."