"When will it be fixed?" The gray-suited engineer from Six hardly seemed to hear Effie as he fiddled with the engine in front of him. Effie huffed. "We are on a schedule!"

"And the engine doesn't know that," the man said, finally looking up at her. "I'll get it done as soon as I can, but that won't be for a while, and you're only slowing me down."

Haymitch snorted at that, and Katniss had to grin from where they sat watching the scene unfold. She looked at her mentor. "Ever had this happen before?"

He shook his head. "Never to this extent. Whenever there have been issues before, it's always been cleared up in twenty minutes or so. Also, they always had me stay on the train while it was happening. Don't know what's different this time." And now it had been an hour. That seemed less than promising. Someone, she was sure, would be losing their head over this one. Katniss just hoped it wouldn't be the poor engineer. Everyone deserved a better last few moments than being scolded by Effie.

Katniss leaned in a little closer to Haymitch. "Think they'd notice if I left?" she whispered.

"Yeah, sweetheart, I don't think they're just going to let their mockingjay stroll on out of her cage."

"What if I asked Effie?"

Haymitch shrugged. "That could be worth a shot." Katniss immediately stood. Haymitch lowered his voice, "But sweetheart, no matter what she says, you can't talk to anyone or even let them see you. Snow doesn't want you interacting with the people – the entire Tour has made that very clear."

Effie's permission wasn't hard to get, but it did come with several conditions. "There's a beach just down the hill that way," the woman said, pointing with pink-gloved fingers. "No leaving that area – I don't want to have to scour this district trying to find you. No talking to strangers, no touching anything that isn't yours, and most importantly, come back immediately if you hear me calling for you or after thirty minutes if you haven't heard from me."

Funny how Haymitch and Effie managed to make almost the same rules sound so different. "Sounds good," she said, and she hurried away.

"And Katniss, have fun!" Effie shouted, and Katniss looked over her shoulder to smile at her. She met Peeta's eyes as well, but she felt a bit relieved when he didn't try to tag along. It wasn't that she didn't like his company - taking a walk on the beach together would make everything seem too real. She didn't want to pretend when there weren't cameras rolling.

The general impression she'd formed of District Four thus far was that it was yellow-gold: bright sunlight, shimmering sand, the sun-bleached hair of the people who lived here. Beautiful. But, as she reached the crest of the hill, she realized her first notions had been only half right. Spread before her was a huge expanse of blue-green that stretched farther than she could begin to comprehend. Katniss stood there for a long moment, lost in her thoughts and admiring the sight below her.

She dropped when she noticed someone in the water. Katniss waited through several heartbeats of silence before daring to raise her head. The person – no, people, she could see two figures now – had moved closer to shore. The tan, dark-haired woman ran away as the redheaded man splashed her, her laughter just reaching Katniss. She couldn't see their faces, but it was so easy to imagine them smiling and laughing. From up here, it all looked so easy, effortless. It made sense, she supposed. Wasn't that how love was supposed to be?

Katniss continued to watch them, wondering if she was even capable of that kind of love.