Chapter 24: Principles
Katniss has continued to retreat further into herself and Peeta is finding it hard to manage between her breakdown, trying to care for little Prim and overseeing what needs to be done at the bakery. Peeta decides to call Annie.
"Hey, Annie" he says when she picks up the phone.
"Peeta!" she says. "What a surprise. I wasn't expecting to hear from you. In fact, I was just getting ready to send a reply to your invitation to the wedding".
"I'm not sure there's going to be a wedding" Peeta says.
Annie can hear the distress in Peeta's voice.
"What do you mean?" she asks.
"Katniss isn't well right now and I don't know what to do to help her" he says.
"What's wrong with Katniss, Peeta?" Annie asks.
He explains to Annie what has happened, starting with the discovery of the rose bush on Prim's grave. She listens intently. Annie knows the way the evil of the Capitol can penetrate your heart, and your mind. Fortunately, for her, she had not made the same impression on Snow. She was not the Mockingjay and had escaped the worst rigours of Capitol torment. It was obvious to her that Katniss was not so fortunate.
"Peeta" says Annie. "If it's OK with you, I am going to make arrangements to come up and spend some time with Katniss. I think she needs a friend right now. Someone who can understand what she is going through, but not someone she is too close to and that she might be afraid of losing. Katniss won't let you in because the thought of losing you again is too painful for her. It's the same with Prim".
Annie is right. Katniss is not allowing any closeness between them. She has completely shut herself off from him and Prim. Maybe Annie will be able to reach her and Peeta knows that this is preferable to having to send Katniss to the Capitol for treatment. That would be a last resort.
"Thank you, Annie. I didn't know who else to call".
"Peeta, I will come up during the week. I am going to organize for someone to care for Finn so that I can focus on being there for Katniss when I arrive. I can help out with baby Prim, too."
Peeta thanks her and puts down the phone. He feels relieved that Annie has offered to help. At the same time he wonders if anyone will be able to reach Katniss right now. They have to try. Peeta hates seeing her like this and he can't imagine what it must be like for Katniss, locked in a world of fear. What he can begin to imagine is how difficult it must have been for Katniss when she had to watch him go through the same thing in the aftermath of his hijacking. Wanting, trying even, to reach him and being blocked at every turn. That must have been so painful for her. Peeta doesn't even want to think about the times he tried to kill her and told Prim to do the same.
She had gotten angry once and called him a "Capitol mutt". Then she called him an ally. She had gone on to tell him all the things she knew about him. In the end she had to walk away. Because he wasn't Peeta, not the Peeta she remembered and loved.
Peeta knows he was a shadow of the person he used to be after the Capitol had finished with him. But, he had made a full recovery and, Peeta believed, Katniss could do the same. He wasn't angry with her, he wanted to help her. He just didn't know how. Peeta hoped that Annie coming to visit would make a difference. And he wasn't giving up on Katniss, not now, not ever. That was a principle he had lived by and, because of it, everything in his world had changed.
Gale has made the arrangements to travel to the Capitol. It is now two weeks since the rose bush was left on top of Prim's grave. The Peacekeepers in District 12 were making no headway in discovering who might have done this and Gale wants to find out if they have any updated information on the Resistance. He arrives in the Capitol during the week and makes his way straight to Paylor's office. She is expecting him.
"Gale" she says as he walks in the door.
"President Paylor" he replies.
"Gale, I know why you are here and I want to tell you we are doing everything we can to try and find out who is behind this despicable act".
"What can you tell me about the current situation with the Resistance?" asks Gale.
"Well, since Katniss did the Propos a few months ago things have quietened down as far as the Resistance goes. That was a big help towards uniting the Districts and keeping people safe. It also helped us round up some of the Rebels". So, that should mean they are willing to help Katniss, Gale thinks.
"Any word on the missing Peacekeepers?" Gale asks.
"Not so far. We are working to get information from the people we have captured, but they are not talking. These are hard core fighters who refuse to divulge any information about their fellow rebels or their plans". Gale knows he would have been the same if he had been captured by the Capitol during the Rebellion. He needs to start thinking like these people again. It might be a way to make inroads into what they are planning.
"Someone came to District 12, undetected, and planted that rose bush on Prim's grave. I have checked the woods and the surrounding areas, but the footprints I've found could belong to anyone. There is no way of knowing how they entered the village, but we do know the reason they did. Katniss is in a state of sheer terror and has shut down to everyone around her. No one can get through to her right now".
"I'm sorry to hear about Katniss, Gale. We thought the last attempt would be the only one. We were wrong. There are hospitals here, in the Capitol, that might be able to help". Was Paylor suggesting that this was Katniss' problem and not a problem of the Capitol?
"What Katniss needs is for us to find the people who did this, the people who have struck fear into her heart again. We need to put an end to this once and for all!"
"And we will" says Paylor.
Gale feels that Katniss is not a main priority for Paylor. They have gotten what they wanted from her and now they are leaving Katniss to her fate, whatever that might be. Gale feels the anger rising in his chest. They wouldn't be here if it wasn't for Katniss, their Mockingjay. Gale decides, on principle, he needs to do his own piece of investigating, without the help of the Capitol. He will not ask Paylor's permission. Katniss' well being, Peeta's and Prim's is all the permission he needs.