The sight of Effie standing on my front door step is a shock. "Hi," I manage to get out while I rack my brain, trying to remember if we agreed to something Capitol related. Nothing comes to mind, but surely I must be forgetting something.

She pulls me in and kisses each cheek in turn. "Look at you!" she proclaims, switching me to arm's length as she takes in my appearance. "You look radiant. Positively radiant!"

It's a bold faced lie, seeing as how I was just getting ready to shed my hunting gear and bathe when she rang the bell. "Thank you," I tell her regardless. "It completely slipped my mind you were coming, or else I would have bathed earlier."

"Oh, no!" she exclaims. "You haven't forgotten at all. It is an unplanned visit, and I apologize for the intrusion."

With a smile, I usher her in. "You are never an intrusion, Effie," I tell her honestly. She may toe the line and work for the Capitol still, but she goes out of her way to give Peeta and myself as much privacy as possible. Though her unplanned visit is a little cause for concern. "No trouble, I hope?" I find myself wishing Peeta were here with me, even when Effie assures me there's no trouble at all.

"Things have never been better!" she proclaims cheerily. "In fact, I probably should have just called instead of showing up on your doorstep like this. But the last few times I've seen you, it's only been in passing, so I thought it the perfect excuse to make a trip out. I never thought I'd say this, but I miss District Twelve."

I smile as we move into the living room. Eyeing the clock, I realize Peeta should have been home by now. "Well, I'm glad you found an excuse to visit," although I'm not entirely sure that's true just yet. "Can I get you something to drink? Or eat? I know how long the train rides can be, and how the service is always a hit or miss."

"Oh, nonsense. Go take your bath. I insist." Her nose wrinkles just a tad as she speaks, and I wonder just how many odors I carried in from the woods with me today. However many, it is worth it. I bagged another deer, and got a handsome reward as well, paid out in the finest cuts of meat in lieu of cash. Peeta and I would be feasting for the next few weeks.

I'm about to tell her I'll just dash upstairs to change my clothes, but I can feel the grime and sweat from the day clinging to my body. So I take her up on the offer. "Make yourself at home. I won't be long. And Peeta should be home at any minute."

I bathe as quickly as possible. When I return downstairs, much more presentable, Peeta and Effie are chatting in the living room. Peeta's eyes crinkle when he sees me and he greets me warmly. "I hear you were quite the huntress today."

"Word sure does get around town fast." I had hoped to surprise him. Silently cursing whomever spoiled my news, I ask where he heard.

"Just about everyone coming into the bakery this evening. You are apparently quite the sight dragging a deer through town by yourself."

"Only to the Meadow," I correct him. "I had help the rest of the way."

"Still, you can imagine why the gossip is flowing."

"I would still think there would be better things to discuss. And I'm rather surprised the girls in the bakery could tear their eyes off you long enough to glance out the window and see me."

"Yes, well," Peeta laughs, "they saw you before they came in. And they made a point of telling me how disgusting you looked."

"Well, that I can believe." Wish a yawn, I roll my neck on my shoulders. I have a haunting suspicion that my muscles are going to ache tomorrow. "The good news is, it all washed off and we have quite the assortment to choose from for dinner."

"You will be staying, yes?" Peeta asks, turning his attention back to Effie.

For the first time, she looks uncomfortable. "Oh, well I-"

"Nonsense," Peeta protests before she can even muster up a poor excuse. "We have plenty of food, plenty of wine, and plenty of space. You have to stay. I insist it."

"Well, if you insist."

"I most certainly do. Katniss, why don't you call Haymitch and have him come around? It'll do him good to get out of the house."

I grunt. "I'm pretty sure if you turn your head towards the window, raise your voice an octave, and repeat the word wine again loudly, he'll be over quicker than you can get the cork out of the bottle."

"Too true. But maybe call him just to be safe."

"How about you call him, and I will get started on the preparations for dinner?" It only takes a single glance from me for him to realize that he is going to catch more bees with honey, and that I will be anything but pleasant to Haymitch on the phone.

As Peeta moves towards the phone, I make my way into the kitchen, telling Effie she's more than welcome to join me. In the kitchen, I cannot help but notice her entire presence while I rummage around to pull together everything I need. She's far more muted than usual. Apart from the vibrant purple of her hair, it isn't too noticeable that she's from the Capitol. Her clothes are plain, though with a splash of color. Even her makeup looks almost normal.

"Everything alright with you?" I ask, trying not to pry but curious all the same.

"Oh, quite so! Life in the Capitol is still adjusting and changing, but I am rather enjoying my new position. So much more responsibility, and far less grunt work."

We chat a bit, and she catches me up on the latest gossip in the Capitol. Most of it is about people I've never met or have even heard of, but a few names I recognize. I'm tempted to ask if she has anything regarding Gale or the members of my old prep team, but I bite my tongue. No sense bringing up those topics this evening.

As the smell of smoked meat fills the kitchen, Peeta finds his way in to warm up a loaf of bread. I eye the bread suspiciously, the memory of the fruitcake loaf still painfully fresh in my mind. "Relax," Peeta says as he catches my eye. "I learned my lesson. Have a little faith."

"I had faith. Until I ate it," I remind him. As if he could forget. The entire district is still recovering from that one.

"You make one mistake," Peeta grumbles under his breath jokingly as he turns on the oven. His hand rests on my waist as he moves around me at the stove to change the controls. It lingers a moment longer than necessary before he pulls away and joins Effie at the counter.

"Something smells like it died in here," Haymitch says by way of greeting as he enters. Then he looks up and catches sight of Effie, and his entire demeanor changes. His posture straightens immediately, and his hands reach up to run through his hair quickly, trying to make sense of the mess atop his head. I watch the production and have to stifle a laugh. Even Peeta seems surprised by Haymitch's quick change.

My eyes dart between Effie and Haymitch, and I'm suddenly reminded of Thanksgiving. Of seeing Haymitch on the train as it pulled into District Four. Hours of prodding, and all he ever told us was that he had business in the Capitol. From the way he is looking at Effie now, I have to wonder what that business entailed.

I share a look with Peeta, wondering if he's thinking the same thing I am. He raises his eyebrows high as he moves to grab a bottle of wine.

When Haymitch declines the glass Peeta offers, I about fall over from shock. "I'm sorry, what did you say?" I ask, sure there is no way I heard what I think I did.

"I'm fine with the water," he replies gruffly. Peeta and I are now staring at each other in amazement. Though I have noticed Haymitch's gradual inclination toward sobriety lately, he has never once passed up an offer for liquor in the entire time I have known him.

"Who are you and what have you done with Haymitch?"

The look he shoots me would cause just about anyone else to quiver in their shoes. As it is, I clamp my mouth shut and abstain from any further prodding into the matter.

We are halfway through dinner before Effie mentions the reason for her visit. When she does, I wish she'd waited until after dessert. "It's a great opportunity, Katniss. And no one deserves it as much as the two of you."

She, wisely, realizes that I am not buying into what she's selling. "I know it didn't work as well as you probably hoped last time," she says, misreading my silence. "But they have made such advances over the past year. And since you will already be in the Capitol for the anniversary, it is such perfect timing. Like it's meant to be!"

Neither Haymitch nor Peeta will look me in the eye now. "We're going to the Capitol for the anniversary?" I ask, since it's news to me. I try to keep my tone level. I doubt I succeed.

"Well, yes, of course. That was decided as soon as you returned to District Twelve." Effie writes it off as if it is a trivial matter. Peeta still won't look at me, which tells me that he has known for quite some time and decided not to tell me. Haymitch is looking at me now, and smirking, enjoying my extreme displeasure at the news. "And just imagine how lovely you would look for all the photos and interviews."

"Peeta," I grit out his name as I slap my napkin onto the table and push my chair back, "can I talk to you in the hallway for a moment?"

Peeta grabs his wine glass, polishing off the remaining liquid with amazing speed in only a few quick gulps. "I'd really rather not," he admits.

I shove the chair back to the table, gripping the back of it as I stand. "Do it anyway."

I hear his footsteps following me, but I don't stop until I'm at the other end of the hall. I doubt Effie and Haymitch will go out of their way to eavesdrop, but I don't want to make it easy for them. "Really?" I ask, spinning on him as soon as I reach the foyer.

"See, this is exactly why I didn't tell you."

"About the trip to the Capitol to be paraded around like an animal, or about Effie's absurd notion to get skin grafted again?"

"Either one."

I honestly had not been expecting this admission. "So you knew about the skin grafting too?" I ask, even angrier now.

"She called and mentioned it a week or two ago. I honestly didn't think she was that serious and that anything would come of it."

"Peeta," I am so upset I cannot form a coherent thought.

"Katniss," he rebuts, and though his tone is teasing, I sense that he is frustrated as well.

"Haven't they done enough to us?" I finally ask, knowing he of all people should understand where I am coming from. They stole our blood for the reaping. They primped us for the Games, polished our bodies and plucked out our hair. They put trackers in our skin. Then, because that wasn't enough, they hijacked Peeta's brain, and turned me into the Mockingjay. Peeta already has an artificial leg, and I've gone through skin grafting before.

"They aren't forcing us to do it this time. This time it is up to us, completely voluntary."

"Us?" I ask. Then I realize, of course it isn't just about me. Peeta has burns of his own, scars that he carries. "Do… do you want to?"

He's uneasy now, and I wonder why. He had no trouble calling me out a second ago, but now he's unsure. At least he isn't taking the offer lightly, then. "I do," he answers, "but also, I don't. Because I know if I want to, that will pressure you. And you are right. They have done enough to us. You should only do this if you think it will be for you."

Dammit, he's right. I hate that even when I'm livid at him, he always seems to be right. I cannot recall the last time he was wrong. About anything. It's infuriating. "Fine," I say, because now I have to do it. And not just because Peeta wants to. I can hear Dr. Aurelius in the back of my head, telling me the skin grafting in another step of many in my road to recovery. Let them heal my body. Let them take away my scars on the outside, so I can work on the ones on in the inside. Even though our sessions are over, he's still constantly talking to me in my head. And I know it's not just me talking to myself, because I hate every suggestion his tiny voice says.

"You don't have to decide now," Peeta insists, and I see the guilt written plainly across his face.

"It's already decided. We'll do it. Together, as a team." Before he can refute, I grab his sleeve and pull him down the hallway. "Now let's go eat before the food gets cold. Plus, I don't want to miss out on all the awkward tension between Haymitch and Effie."